The Papal Hill in Luboń is an artificial structure built in 2001–2003 during the construction of a section of the A2 motorway. Previously, it was a garbage dump for the city of Poznań.

At the top of the hill, there is a cross and a plaque in honor of the Polish Pope, and on the entire surface there are bicycle and pedestrian paths and benches.

At the foot of the hill, in September 2011, a monument "Certificate of Love" was erected. On the pedestal there is a meaningful inscription: "Choose life so that you may live ...". At the top of the 4-meter-high monument there are two decalogue boards, and in front of the boards there is a large hand in which a baby lies. The monument was devastated in 2020 by feminist and pro-abortion organizations.

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Wzgórze Jana Pawła II, Wzgórze Papieskie w Luboniu jest tworem sztucznym, usypanym w latach 2001–2003 podczas budowy odcinka autostrady A2. Wcześniej było to wysypisko śmieci dla miasta Poznania.

Na szczycie wzgórza znajduje się krzyż i tablica dla uczczenia papieża Polaka, a na całej powierzchni alejki rowerowo-piesze oraz ławki.

U podnóża wzgórza we wrześniu 2011 roku ustawiono pomnik "Świadectwo Miłości". Na cokole znajduje się wymowny napis: „Wybierajcie życie, abyście żyli...”. Na górze monumentu o wysokości 4 m są dwie tablice z dekalogiem, a przed tablicami wielka dłoń w której leży niemowlę. Pomnik był dewastowany w 2020 roku przez organizacje feministyczne i proaborcyjne.

...but all different, each with their own intelligence, stupidity, beauty or ugliness; but who defines “different, beautiful or ugly?” What is beautiful for some is ugly for others... let's not limit ourselves to social stereotypes based on sterile concepts that one day someone, by virtue of a power assumed not by right but by tyranny, wrote in his decalogue as if the world revolved around him …..

That people have rights and that their lives need to be protected by law, is not a new idea. You would find it already expressed in the Codex Hammurabi (long before the Decalogue was composed). However, that these rights and laws had to be based on the principle of equality, that is a fruit of modernity and of the revolutions of the 18th, 19th and the 20th centuries. Human rights these days apply not simply to the individual, but in principle to any society and any nation. And even this can not be the final destination. The environmental destruction of the last decades in combination with its attack on biodiversity has taught us that the ideas of human rights and equality cannot be realised without redeeming nature. The revolution, therefore, has to continue and include the liberation of all life around us. And this, also, is not a new idea. Since the days of St Paul we have known that the whole creation has been groaning and waiting to be set free (Romans, 8). Perhaps, we are going in circles. Leica M8, Elmar (coll.) 90/4.

"For 6,000 years, these rules have been unquestionably right. And yet we break them every day. People feel that something is wrong in life. There is some kind of atmosphere that makes people now turn to other values. They want to contemplate the basic questions of life.". -Krzysztof Kieslowski

Parish church. C13, late C14 and C15. Restored 1854-5 and 1868 by Clarke, and 1878 by G.M. Hills. Bethersden marble with plain tile roofs. West tower. Nave, continuous with chancel to south, slightly projecting to north. South aisle, continuous with south chancel chapel, flush with east end of chancel. South porch with parvis chamber. West tower: late C14. Three stages, on moulded plinth . Angle buttresses. Battlements above moulded string. Polygonal north-east stair turret with plain parapet higher than tower. East and west belfry windows of 2 lights with vertical bars, quatrefoil and hoodmould. North and south belfry windows of 3 trefoil-headed lights with squared hoodmould. Single trefoil-headed light to central stage to west and rectangular light with iron bars to north and south. West window of 3 cinquefoil-headed lights with inter- secting tracery incorporating inverted mouchettes. 2-centred arched casement-moulded architrave. Hoodmould with carved heads to label stops and 4 carved grotesques beneath hoodmould. Rectangular panel below window with sunk quatrefoil and shield. 2-centred arched west doorway with casement-moulded architrave, slender moulded shaft to each side, carved spandrels and squared moulded hoodmould with carved heads as label stops. South aisle and south chapel: late C14, chapel with C13 origins, possibly refenestrated in C15. Moulded stone plinth. South-west and south-east angle buttresses. Battlements above moulded string. South aisle has three windows, each of 3 slightly stepped cinquefoil-headed lights and hoodmould; one to west end and one either side of porch. South chapel has three 4-centred arched 2-light windows with hoodmoulds, alternating with buttresses. Low 2-centred arched doorway with renewed architrave. Restored east window of 5 traceried lights with hoodmould. South porch: probably late C14. Moulded stone plinth. Battlements above moulded string. Polygonal north-west stair turret with plain parapet. Small rectangular north and south lights to porch and slightly larger lights with hoodmoulds to chamber. 2-centred arched casement-moulded outer doorway with hoodmould. 2-centred arched Bethersden marble inner doorway, with hoodmould and ribbed door. Chancel: C13 origin. Refenestrated, probably in late C14 or C15. Presently without plinth. Single buttress. Gabled. Tall restored 2-centred arched traceried east window with 3 cinquefoil-headed lights below and 3 above central transom. Hoodmould. Two north windows; that to east set higher with 2 trefoil-headed lights and hoodmould; that to west with moulded architrave, 2 cinquefoil-headed lights, tracery of vertical bars, and hoodmould. Nave: north elevation: probably late C14. Moulded plinth, continuous with that of tower. Four 3-light traceried windows (incorporating inverted daggersl,with moulded architraves and hoodmoulds, alternating with buttresses. Interior: structure: 5-bay nave arcade to south of pointed arches with hollow chamfer and semi roll. 2 west arches with lower heads. Octagonal columns, with moulded capitals and bases of Bethersden marble. East column of arcade free-standing, also forming springing for chancel arch, chancel aqcade, and arch between south chapel and south aisle. Chancel arch and arch between chapel and aisle similar to south arcade. 2-bay chancel arcade of plain-chamfered pointed arches. Chamfered rectangular pier with undercut and roll-moulded abacus. Deeply moulded pointed-arched tower arch, with attached shafts, the capitals moulded similarly to those of south arcade. 4-centred arched hollow- chamfered doorway to rood-loft stairs to east end of north wall of nave. 3-centred arched doorway with semi roll moulding to tower stairs. 2- centred arched hollow-chamfered doorway to parvis chamber stairs. Low 4-centred arched hollow-chamfered north doorway to chancel. Small rectangular light to parvis chamber. Roof: Late C14 or early C15 collar- rafter roof to nave of 7 trusses (5½ bays), with moulded aligned butt purlins. Heavily moulded composite solid-spandrel arch-braces to collars, moulding continued down pendant posts. Hollow-chamfered windbraces, with carved spandrels between windbraces and purlins. Above collars, heavy- scantling scissor braces halved across yokes. Ashlar-pieces between bases of scissor-braces and tops of purlins, and between rafters and cornice. Moulded and brattished cornice. Chancel roof boarded in 7 cants. Lean-to roofs to south chapel and aisle. Fittings: Rectangular hollow-chamfered piscina to east end of south wall of south aisle. Similar but larger piscina to east end of south wall of chapel. Cinquefoil-headed piscina to east end of chancel. Octagonal C15 font with carved concave sides, shafted octagonal stem and moulded base on octagonal stone plinth, to south side of south arcade. Screen base partly early C16, with variety of linenfold panelling, and frieze carved differently in each section. Pulpit of 1878 with re-used linenfold panelling. Inlaid hexagonal tester. Painted panels, probably from C17 or C18 reredos, depicting Moses and Aaron. Royal Arms above tower arch. 1787 Benefactors' Board to south wall of nave. 4 boards with Creed and Decalogue to south wall of nave. Decoration: C15 stained glass to heads of north nave and south aisle windows. Monuments: C15 tomb recess towards east end of south wall of south aisle, with Culpeper arms to spandrels; low Bethersden marble table tomb with corniced lid set into recess spanned by broad 4-centred arch, cusped and subcusped, with large leaves over cusps and slender shaft each side with moulded capital and base. Quatrefoiled spandrels and squared moulded and embattled hoodmould. C18 tablet to east wall of chancel, in black and white marble, with moulded plinth on shaped base panel, flanking pilasters, and moulded open-topped pediment with escutcheon. Inscription barely legible at time of re-survey.

This series “I dreamed that it was a tree” finishes in today. I have wanted to show with her the dreams of an adolescent in perfect harmony with the nature. It is a decalogue of hope and respect to environment. A perfect symbiosis of the vegetal world and the human. I create to have obtained my intention. Thanks to all for the commentaries and the pursuit that have made of this series. Also I thank he Cris, to have had as much patience working for me. It is as she appears, loving the nature and the Peace

Testo di Marco Mascioli

1. Usa sempre er guanciale. Si volevamo er bacon annavamo in America.

2. Niente parmigiano, solo pecorino. Chi dice metà e metà c'ha quarcosa da nasconne.

3. Nun coce l'ovo. Mejo n'infezione che na frittata.

4. Niente ajo e niente cipolla, nun stai a fa er ragù.

5. Nè ojo, nè buro, nè strutto. Hai da fa' spurgá er guanciale.

6. Niente peperoncino. In Calabria ce vai st'estate.

7. Non usare altre spezie al di fuori der pepe. Si nun te sta bene vai a cena dall'indiano.

8. Chi mette 'a panna dovrebbe annà in galera.

9. Nun dì mai 'carbonara' e 'vegana' nella stessa frase.

10. Tonnarelli, spaghetti, bucatini, rigatoni. Va bene tutto, basta che non fai scoce 'a pasta.

:::: THE DECALOGUE OF CARBONARA ::::

Text by Marco Mascioli

1. Always use a guanciale. Yes, we wanted to eat bacon in America.

2. No Parmesan, only pecorino. Whoever says half and half has something to hide.

3. Do not cook the egg. Better infection that to omelette.

4. No garlic and no onion, dont are you to make ragù.

5. Neither garlic, no butter, no lard. You have to do purge with guanciale.

6. No chili. You go to Calabria this summer.

7. Do not use any spices other than pepper. Yes, you're fine. Go to the Indian for dinner.

8. Whoever puts cream should go to jail.

9. Never dì 'carbonara' and 'vegan' in the same sentence.

10. Tonnarelli, spaghetti, bucatini, rigatoni. Everything's fine, as long as you don't crack pasta.

A shot of the upper façade of the Monastiriotes’ Synagogue in Thessaloniki, Greece, on the occasion of the Jews’ worldwide prayer for redemption today, on February 21, 2021.

There is an inscription in Hebrew above the entrance. Another inscription carved in two tablets is seen atop; it is probably the Decalogue (the Ten Commandments). Monastiriotes were the people who immigrated from the city of Monastir in Yougoslavia (Bitola) to Thessaloniki after the Balkan Wars. The Synagogue was built in 1925. Severe damage was caused by the Germans during the occupation in WWII and once again in 1978 by earthquake. The Synagogue was restored with funds provided by the Greek government. It is in operation for the religious needs of the Thessaloniki Jews.

Thessaloniki has a long and rich Jewish tradition, dating back to the 15th century. Following their expulsion from Spain, Sephardic Jews came to Thessaloniki by invitation from the Ottoman Sultan. Over the next four centuries, the Jewish population of Thessaloniki grew to be the largest in Europe, giving rise to the nickname “la Madre de Israel” (the mother of Israel).

Today (on February 21, 2021) all Jews as one pray on a worldwide scale for final redemption; they cry out for Messiah (Moshiach) and for God’s presence back to the rebuilt Holy Temple (Beis HaMikdash).

NON SEMPRE SI PUO' RISPARMIARE.

Quest’anno la celebre campagna radiofonica M’illumino di Meno si è celebrata l’11 marzo 2022. È stata la diciottesima edizione, quella simbolicamente della maturità: è matura ormai la consapevolezza scientifica che il pianeta vive una drammatica urgenza ambientale; è matura, sebbene giovane, la generazione che più di tutte è riuscita a richiamare l’attenzione dei potenti sulla crisi climatica.

Quando nel 2005 Caterpillar, dai microfoni di Rai Radio2, ebbe l’idea di coinvolgere il pubblico in una grande festa degli stili di vita sostenibili, immaginando con l’aiuto di alcuni scienziati un decalogo sul risparmio energetico attuabile nelle vite di tutte e tutti, l’ambientalismo era un tema ancora di nicchia. Dopo 18 anni, i temi posti dalla campagna sono diventati l’asse portante delle politiche governative a livello nazionale, europeo e globale. Nel frattempo, si è ampliato il mercato della green economy, ovvero di coloro che producono beni, tecnologie e servizi per la tutela dell’ambiente, dimostrando che la transizione ecologica conviene da tutti i punti di vista.

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YOU CAN NOT ALWAYS SAVE.

This year the famous M’illumino di Meno radio campaign was celebrated on 11 March 2022. It was the eighteenth edition, symbolically of maturity: the scientific awareness is now ripe that the planet is experiencing a dramatic environmental urgency; the generation that most of all has managed to draw the attention of the powerful to the climate crisis is mature, albeit young.

When in 2005 Caterpillar, from the microphones of Rai Radio2, had the idea of ​​involving the public in a great celebration of sustainable lifestyles, imagining with the help of some scientists a decalogue on energy saving that can be implemented in everyone's lives, environmentalism was still a niche topic. After 18 years, the issues raised by the campaign have become the backbone of government policies at national, European and global levels. In the meantime, the green economy market has expanded, ie those who produce goods, technologies and services for the protection of the environment, demonstrating that the ecological transition is worthwhile from all points of view.

Immagine realizzata con lo smartphone HUAWEI MATE 20 PRO.

"Christ Church is an Episcopal church located at 118 North Washington Street, with an entrance at 141 North Columbus Street, in Alexandria, Virginia. Constructed as the main church in the Church of England's Fairfax Parish, the building was designed by Col. James Wren, a descendant of Sir Christopher Wren. To finance construction of the church, the Fairfax Vestry raised 31,186 pounds of Oronoco tobacco from parishioners. Construction began in 1765, under the direction of James Parsons. After four years, the church was still unfinished. The vestry relieved Parsons of his duties as overseer of the construction. John Carlyle accepted the position and handed the keys of the completed building over to the vestry in February 1773.

Initially the pews were box pews and a two-tier pulpit was situated on the north side of the sanctuary. There was no font because until after the Civil War, weddings, baptisms, and the churching of women took place at home. In the mid-nineteenth century, stoves were put in the back of the church and the box pews were converted to the slips that are in use today. During a renovation later that century, the original pulpit was replaced by the current wine-glass pulpit. The only remaining hand-carved hymnal rack is in the Lee pew. The plaques on either side of the chancel were hand-lettered by Wren and have never been retouched. They display the Decalogue, the Lord's Prayer, the Apostles' Creed, and the Golden Rule. Wren used ink and then varnished his work just as an artist varnishes a finished painting. Over time the carbon in the ink and the alcohol in the varnish formed an acetate that created the wonderful burnished patina of the plaques. If you look closely, you can see Wren's brushstrokes and one drip.

George Washington, Henry Lee, Robert E. Lee, Charles Simms, Philip Marsteller, and Henry Fowler are a few of the church's notable parishioners (members). Until the twenty-first century, it was tradition for sitting presidents to attend a service. Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Eleanor Roosevelt visited the church on January 1, 1942 to commemorate World Day of Prayer for Peace. The church was known as Fairfax Church until given the name Christ Church in 1816. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1970.

Alexandria is an independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately 7 miles (11 km) south of downtown Washington, D.C.

In 2020, the population was 159,467. The city's estimated population has grown by 1% annually since 2010 on average.

Like the rest of Northern Virginia and Central Maryland, modern Alexandria has been influenced by its proximity to the U.S. capital. It is largely populated by professionals working in the federal civil service, in the U.S. military, or for one of the many private companies which contract to provide services to the federal government. One of Alexandria's largest employers is the U.S. Department of Defense. Another is the Institute for Defense Analyses. In 2005, the United States Patent and Trademark Office moved to Alexandria, and in 2017, so did the headquarters of the National Science Foundation.

The historic center of Alexandria is known as Old Town Alexandria (or simply "Old Town"). With its concentration of boutiques, restaurants, antique shops and theaters, it is a major draw for all who live in Alexandria as well for visitors. Like Old Town, many Alexandria neighborhoods are compact and walkable. It is the 7th largest and highest-income independent city in Virginia.

A large portion of adjacent Fairfax County, mostly south but also west of the city, has Alexandria mailing addresses. However, this area is under the jurisdiction of Fairfax County's government and separate from the independent city. The city is therefore sometimes referred to as the "City of Alexandria" to avoid confusion (see the "Neighborhoods" paragraph below). Additionally, neighboring Arlington County was formerly named "Alexandria County" before it was renamed by the Virginia General Assembly in 1920 to reduce confusion with the city." - info from Wikipedia.

The fall of 2022 I did my 3rd major cycling tour. I began my adventure in Montreal, Canada and finished in Savannah, GA. This tour took me through the oldest parts of Quebec and the 13 original US states. During this adventure I cycled 7,126 km over the course of 2.5 months and took more than 68,000 photos. As with my previous tours, a major focus was to photograph historic architecture.

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“What he realised, and more clearly as time went on, was that money-worship has been elevated into a religion. Perhaps it is the only real religion-the only felt religion-that is left to us. Money is what God used to be. Good and evil have no meaning any longer except failure and success. Hence the profoundly significant phrase, to make good. The decalogue has been reduced to two commandments. One for the employers-the elect, the money priesthood as it were- 'Thou shalt make money'; the other for the employed- the slaves and underlings'- 'Thou shalt not lose thy job.' " ― George Orwell, Keep the Aspidistra Flying

St John the Baptist, Wantisden, Suffolk

Sunshine, daffodils and a wonderful church to visit. And so the year begins at last. A new entry on the Suffolk Churches site.

Remote churches have a peculiar fascination for me. It is as if they are cut off in time as well as space. Things have happened at a different pace, in different ways. Sometimes, it seems as though they have been forgotten, and that much has survived. In Suffolk there are some lovely, unspoiled, remote churches. I think of Badley, I think of Little Wenham. But most of all I think of Wantisden.

It had been nearly twenty years since I'd last visited Wantisden church. And yet, I had thought of it often, and even passed it close enough to see it off in the distance. The church is located in fields about half a mile from the nearest road. This is not that unusual in East Anglia, probably a dozen others are equally remote. And St John the Baptist has always been remote, for there has never been a village of Wantisden. This church served the residents of Wantisden Hall, and their workers.

What makes the church remarkable however, is not its remoteness, but its location. Until the 1930s, there were just two little cottages about 400 yards north of the church, by a bend in the little river. They were called Bent Waters cottages. At the start of the second world war, this whole area was requisitioned by the military, and by 1950, USAAF Bentwaters was one of the biggest and busiest military airbases in the world. The site of the cottages is somewhere under the main runway now, the river long-culverted. The church was enclosed by the military area until the 1950s, when the new perimeter fence cut in and put it outside the base.

However, the only access to it was through the base (the fields were still cordoned off as tank training areas) so anyone who wanted to tend a grave had to have a military escort through the base. At this time, the modern top road didn't exist, and the nearest other road to the church was a mile away. When the fields were reopened in the sixties, the current top road was built, and a footpath was put in from it. In the 1980s, it was turned into a roadway, but it was still shown on OS maps as a footpath, perhaps because of its proximity to the airbase. It seems that Russia wasn't the only country during the cold war to put deliberate errors on maps to confuse the enemy.

St John the Baptist is a Norman church, with a 15th century Coralline Crag tower, one of only two in England. The other is about a mile off at Chillesford, where you can also see the medieval quarry from which the crag was dug. Simon Cotton tells me that bequests were made for this tower in 1445 and 1449. Given its location, you might think that the church has been declared redundant, but it is still looked after as part of the Orford benefice, a tremendous act of faith and love.

You step in through a small Norman south doorway into an organic space, close to the earth from which it springs, rough and ready and yet also lovingly kept. Above the doorway is a grinning grotesque headstone, probably a lion, an early medieval symbol of Christ. Turning east, the chancel arch is Norman, a rare beast in Suffolk. Above it, the 18th Century decalogue boards are in their original place, and a royal arms dated 1800 hangs on the north wall.

The bench ends are medieval, their figures entirely destroyed, although enough remains of one to show that it may well have depicted a fox preaching to geese. They probably came from elsewhere, but some crude 17th Century benches huddle in the north west corner, and this was no doubt their original home.

The font is a great round tub of a thing, contemporary with the chancel arch. It is one of England's few surviving Norman fonts built of blocks of stone. The wooden credence shelf survives in the 14th Century piscina.

Ann Comyn, on the north chancel wall, exchanged time for eternity in 1832. Mortlock observed that such a transition seems unremarkable in a place like Wantisden. Before that, Mary Wingfield lyved in ye trewe feare of God and died in the faith of Christ in 1582. Robert Harvie, one of the Harveys of Ickworth, was having no such truck with even such puritan sentiments as these when he died shortly before the start of the English Civil War in 1637, his inscription simply telling us that he died and was buried. Curiously, the inscription also records the death of his wife Marian, who died the - but there the inscription ends. Presumably it was installed before her death in full expectation that she would join him, but perhaps in the tumult and fury of the Civil War and subsequent Commonwealth she moved elsewhere, or was even forgotten.

Outside in early spring, the wind ruffles the bare trees, and the churchyard begins to overgrow the mainly 19th Century graves. There is the Tunstall forest in the distance, dark and forbidding. But the most surreal view is to the west. Here, 20 metres or so from the tower, is the perimeter fence of the USAF base, abandoned in the early 1990s. When I last came here in 2000 the buildings were boarded up, the control tower had the cladding hanging off it, the runway, as wide as Heathrow's, was overgrown, and sheep grazed all around. Beyond were the nuclear missile bunkers, built to be indestructible. All this has now been replaced by mundane warehousing and storage facilities, poor neighbours to the thousand-year-old church.

I thought back to my first visit here in the early 1990s, watching from beneath as an F1-11 jet screamed into the sky. It was from this base that the Americans bombed Libya in 1987. And that same decade, while the brave women of Greenham Common were protesting about Cruise Missiles there (how long ago that now seems!) the US Airforce was quietly stockpiling nuclear warheads here. At one time, USAF Bentwaters is said to have stocked enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world 5 times over.

And accidents do happen. In a forgotten leaflet in the depths of Suffolk Libraries' reserve collection, I found a story that, in the 1940s, there was an accident at the nearby tank school. Several people were killed, and the cracks in the walls of Wantisden church are still there. But, this church survives, thanks to the loving care of the local faith community.

This is a strange place, like no other. It stands as a witness to a millennium of faith. The vivid sandy colour of the coralline tower, full of fossilised shells, rears primevally above the corrugated fields. When I came here in 2000, a couple of elderly parishioners were planting a millennium yew tree in the churchyard, grown from a cutting of a tree believed to be already a thousand years old, as old as this church.

Time passes. And there is still a great sense of permanence here, because the evidence is so close at hand that, as empires rise and crumble, as the violence of the 20th century sinks back into the silence of these ancient fields, as the years turn into millennia, faith endures. And so, of course, does love.

... but, alas, no more. Manannán mac Lir, literally meaning Manannán, Son of the Sea, is a sea deity of Celtic mythology. Here, a sculpted depiction of him seems to appeal to Limavady, Northern Ireland, from the cliffs of Binevenagh Mountain... and the sculpture has just recently been vandalized! Sadly, “Manannán” was sawed loose and carted away, leaving only the prow. A cross with the first of the Ten Commandments inscribed thereon, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me", was left in its place.

No one yet knows who left the cross there, much less who absconded with the figure... it could have been a Christian concerned for the “graven image” that the sculpture portrayed, though I saw no one worshipping it when I shot this. There was no indication that it was being treated as a shrine. There were a few more there than our little band of five, and those folks were making light of having their photo taken with Manannán amongst them. Whoever did this may be attempting to throw off those who are actively trying to solve this crime. As my Irish friend Mari Ward-Foster (who actually brought me here to the Gortmore Viewing Point when this image was taken) pointed out in a BBC interview, a Christian’s concern should be for all ten commandments of the Decalogue, including the eighth: “Thou shalt not steal”, especially about something as benign as the depiction of a mythical being... that’s akin to having serious issues about Paul Bunyan, who's depicted as giant statues throughout many states here in America, and that’s just silly... unless, of course, you’re a tree-hugger, and then it’s still silly.

Supposedly, some Celtic mythology predates written language. I’m not so sure about that, though I do know a few things about mythology that you may never have considered... and you may find interesting. Celtic mythology certainly predates empirical science, yet, in a way, it was nothing less than science... all mythology was a way for primitive people, with no understanding of the physics of nature, to apply order to the phenomena around them. Anything that appears to the senses, anything that we see, hear, touch, taste, or smell is all part of the phenomena of the physical world... reality. To make sense out of the world around us, considering the seemingly endless disparate elements of the material world, requires a unity between the material world and the world of ideas. Mythology was not only stories handed from generation to generation, it was the beginnings of ideas that would eventually elevate to theology, philosophy, and true science, which are still merely pursuits of making sense of this world... looking for truth.

As you can see in this image, it is not for no reason that Ireland is known as the Emerald Isle, with rich soil for farming and pastures for cattle and sheep, yet it is an island where seafaring has been an occupation throughout its history of human settlement. The weather was beautiful when we were there, but storms can hit that northern coastline with terrifying ferocity... can you imagine setting out to sea without advantage of tidal charts and accurate weather prediction? Yet, that’s what many did back then, relying solely on such wisdom as “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky at morn, sailor’s take warn!”, which is not as reliable a predictor as you would think. My mind’s eye sees the tattered sail flailing in the turbulent wind, and the water rushing into the boat as the boards creak threateningly beneath their feet, and the vessel can do little more than rise and fall on the ceaseless waves. In panic, they wonder not only how so calm a start could end up like this, but also if they will make it back home again... for those that do return after such an ordeal, theirs is not only a question of how "fair winds and following seas" turn into something so monstrous that many who put out into it are never heard from again... there’s also the question of why. The myth of Manannán mac Lir figured strongly with concern to weather, especially about the “mists between worlds”, which is likely how such things as the veil of rain seen covering distant Donegal in this image was understood.

Now, one may think that mythology and Christian theology fit along the same plane... they do not. What sets mythology apart is that it is essentially impractical, as are many stories, and in no way conforms to reality. That’s the very definition of truth... that which conforms to reality. Mythology's ultimate value may have been little more than entertainment, and most everyone enjoys that aspect to this day. Though it is contemporary understanding, the Law of Non-Contradiction, which is a law (not theory, mind you) of both philosophy and science, states that A (whatever A is) cannot be non-A at the same time... even back in the day, people had enough sense to determine that the dailiness of what nature presented to them was in direct contradiction to mythology's answer to it. In a way, however, mythology, as well as other ancient legends and stories, helped to set a precedent concerning the authenticity of scripture, as determined by another famous son of Ireland... C. S. Lewis.

C. S. Lewis, declaring at age 15 to be quite mad at God for not existing, was an atheist professor of ancient literature at Oxford University. At J. R. R. Tolkien’s insistence, He decided to settle the matter of the Bible’s authenticity by using his skills to pick it apart. What he read there picked him apart instead, and he gave his life to Christ. One of the things that struck him concerning the Bible that differentiated it from all other ancient literature was the depth of detail expressed by the writers of the Bible. That kind of detail comes only from firsthand accounts. Lewis concluded the issue of Jesus’ deity in this way: “I am trying here to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him- “I am ready to accept Jesus as a good moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claims to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man that is merely a man and says the things that Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on the level with a man who thinks he is a poached egg, or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was and is the Son of God, or else he was a mad man or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon, or you can fall down on your knees and worship Him as the Lord and God. But let us not come up with any of this patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that option open to us. And He did not intend to do so.”

Those who cowardly hauled off with poor Manannán mac Lir in the cover of night might have rethought their actions had they known any of this. My prayer is that the law catches them before Mari does! And just a side note for my dear Irish Flickr friends Mari, Rodney, and Evelyn: I remember waking after a couple of hours sleep aboard that Airbus 380 shortly before landing at Heathrow after crossing the "pond", with the reality of the trip before me finally sinking in... "I'm going to physically meet folks that I've only known digitally up to this point. What if they're jerks? What if I'm a jerk?" Thank you so much for showing us your culture, your beautiful country, and your even more beautiful people... the point of how something like this rends your heart over the thoughtlessness of others shows the depth of that beauty. There’s not a day goes by that we don’t think of you. We’ll be back!

See Mari's Facebook community page here at "Bring Back Manannán mac Lir the Sea God" www.facebook.com/pages/Bring-back-Manannan-Mac-Lir-the-Se...

A postscript... the remnant of the Manannán mac Lir statue has been found. This article gives the details of both that and the dispensation of its replacement: www.derryjournal.com/news/second-coming-for-manannan-mac-...

St Edmund, Egleton, Rutland

At last, the days were long enough to return to Rutland. I had explored forty of the county's churches in the dry heat of the previous late summer, but now the rolling countryside was full of spring greenness, light-dappled shade scattering across the stone walls and rough fields of the pitched landscape. I cycled out of Oakham onto the long road which runs up the peninsula into Rutland Water. The road climbs through woods, and there are occasional glimpses of the water below and the feeling that you might be coming onto an island.

The pretty village of Hambleton crowns the hill, water on three sides, and its church sitting at the highest point in the village. The name of the village was formerly Upper Hambleton. The roadsign outside the church points back to Oakham in one direction, but the other two boards say simply No Through Road. These roads once led to Middle Hambleton and Nether Hambleton in one direction, and to Edith Weston in the other, but both roads, and both other Hambletons, were submerged beneath Rutland Water in 1976.

I spent twenty minutes or so wandering around Hambleton's deliciously Arts-and-Crafts-furnished church, and then there was only one way onwards, back the way I had come, but turning off just before I got back to Oakham for Egleton.

Many must be those who pass this lane on their way to the leisure and pleasure of the Water, but as soon as you turn onto it you are presented with the attractive sight of Egleton church's lean spire and stone walls rising half a mile off above a boiling of trees. The building's faded elegance unfolds as you approach, the north side containing the arches of a now-blank arcade where an aisle has at one time been demolished. The view from the south reveals two impossibly large 15th Century windows in the south side of the nave, separated by a blockish porch below the one surviving double light of the former clerestory. Above that, the nave roof has been flattened and the tower rebuilt, its bell windows reformed, probably in the 18th Century after a period of neglect.

And now things get even more interesting, because the porch conceals one of the most spectacular south doorways in the county, a large tympanum depicting two beasts flanking (or fighting over?) a wheel, with apparently useless corbel heads to either side. It does not fit the Norman doorway below, and you get the feeling that the whole thing has been butchered, perhaps assembled from parts taken from elsewhere. The tympanum is clearly older than the doorway which it surmounts, in that style handily known as Saxo-Norman, suggesting locals still untouched by a sophisticated foreign invasion of new ideas and working practices.

You step through into a church which is delightfully rough and ready, old stone, old woodwork, dusty light falling through the air from the huge nave windows, crude corbel heads grinning down. The late medieval roodscreen now sits below the tower arch, but it is the view to the east which captivates, because the chancel arch is all of a piece with the south doorway, an apparently butchered Saxo-Norman affair with decorated shafts. The font seems slightly later, late Norman perhaps, square and perfunctorily decorated with roundels. I wonder if this is a good date for the rebuilding of the nave, and the south doorway and chancel arch being brought to the state they are in now?

Above the chancel arch are the remains of a large painted royal arms for the House of Hanover, presumably covered up by the Victorians but later revealed again. The most interesting thing about it is the figure of Aaron standing to the right of it. Presumably Moses is still under the plaster on the other side, but where would the decalogue boards have gone which they would conventionally flank? Could they have hung down within the arch?

The chancel beyond is a simple and refreshing 19th Century refurbishment, a fitting counterpoint to what has gone before, the east window by T Cox & Co depicting the Miracles of Christ. The company was probably also responsible for the lovely decorative glass in the nave. Frowning upon this Victorian elegance, four large and sombre slate memorials, mostly to members of the Crofts family, return stern stares from along the north walls.

Dedicata a chi, ogni tanto incontro qualcuno, non ha talento ma ha l’ardire di criticare; a chi non ha compreso che nella vita serve tanta umiltà e che una vita sola non è sufficiente per imparare; a chi non ascolta perché logorroico; a chi si nasconde dietro pseudonimi perché probabilmente non ha il coraggio di metterci la faccia; a chi perde tempo dietro facezie invece di crescere; a tutte queste persone dedico un breve decalogo: 1) si studia 2) ci si confronta nei circoli 3) si fanno mostre collettive 4) si fanno mostre personali 5) si scrivono libri 6) si partecipa a concorsi mondiali 7) qualche volta si vincono 8) ci si accorge che non c’è più tempo per tutti i progetti che si vorrebbe fare perché la vita è troppo breve per essere sprecata. Per tutti gli altri, la maggioranza, auguro buona vita.

Dedicated to those who, every now and then I meet someone, have no talent but have the audacity to criticize; to those who have not understood that in life you need so much humility and that one life alone is not enough to learn; to those who don't listen because they are talkative; to those who hide behind pseudonyms because they probably don't have the courage to put their face on it; to those who waste time behind jokes instead of growing up; I dedicate a brief decalogue to all these people: 1) we study 2) we discuss in circles 3) we hold group exhibitions 4) we hold personal exhibitions 5) we write books 6) we participate in world competitions 7) we win 8) you realize that there is no more time for all the projects that you would like to do because life is too short to be wasted. For all the others, the majority, I wish you a good life.

St Mary’s or St Mary the Virgin, Emborough is a disused church, formerly of the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells and now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. Emborough is a tiny hamlet over 200 metres above sea level on the Mendip plateau, 6 miles/10 km north of Wells and 15 miles/24 km south-west of Bath.

The plain circular tub font is believed to be Norman or 13th century.

The pulpit, which has fielded panels, dates from the 18th century, although the base is later.

The seating, of various types, may date partly from a restoration of the church in 1885–86 by JD Sedding when the fielded panels of the ousted Georgian pews were reused to form dados.

At the east end is a communion table with lunette carving of Jacobean type,

Boards inscribed with the Decalogue, Creed and Lord’s Prayer are dated 1817.

St Mary’s Church dates from at least the 12th century, but in its present form the building appears to date from the 13th century, with alterations in the later Middle Ages and at various times in the postmediaeval period, including substantial supporting work to the tower in the 1580s. Pevsner’s view is that the church ‘looks essentially of c.1800’, probably as a result of some ‘Gothick restoration’ around the turn of the 19th Century. Further restoration took place in the 1880s and then the 1920s. The shallow south porch, which incorporates a reused 17th century gravestone, seems to have been built during the 18th/19th Century restoration.

The church had been a chapelry of the parish of Chewton since 1351. After the Second World War the vicar of Chewton was still responsible for Emborough church, although students from Wells Theological College took some of the services. The building suffered from the costly effects of damp, a persistent problem over the centuries in th

El caballito marino pigmeo Denise (Hippocampus denise) es más pequeño que el conocido “bargibanti”, llegando tan solo a los 2,4 cm los ejemplares de mayor longitud identificados. Tiende a ser menos carnoso y tener menos protuberancias que este ultimo, lo que da a su piel un aspecto mucho más suave. Esta tiene una variación de coloraciones que imitan a la de las gorgonias que los acogen, siendo los más comunes el rojo, amarillo, marrón y anaranjado. A diferencia del Hipocampus Bargibanti que solo habita en Gorgonias del género “Muricella”, el Denise se ha observado en numerosas especies diferentes de gorgonias, en lugar de limitarse habitar en una en particular.

El Hippocampus Denise ha sido observado a profundidades de hasta -90 mts (-295 ft). El ejemplar fotografiado se encontraba presumiblemente en una “Gorgonia Muricella plectana” a unos –35 mts de profundidad (-115 ft).

Basándome que mi objetivo macro, un Olympus M.Zuiko digital ED 60 mm, estaba configurado con el bloqueo de enfoque escalado a 1:1, pude fácilmente calcular más tarde el tamaño del mismo en un procesador de imágenes, dándome una longitud muy aproximada a los ¡12 mm!!.

Hasta este momento han sido descritas siete especies del caballito de mar pigmeo, más otra que se encuentra pendiente de clasificación.

Conservación: Los caballitos de mar pigmeos dependen única y exclusivamente de sus gorgonias anfitrionas, la destrucción de una gorgonia por motivos de pesca, anclas y buceadores no respetuosos, conlleva consigo la muerte de este bello y curioso habitante de las profundidades.

Página Web de una fotógrafa especializada:

morefundiving.com/pygmy-seahorses/

Decalogo de recomendaciones para fotografiar el Caballito de Mar. Valido también para otras especies muy sensibles a la luz:

morefundiving.com/how-not-to-kill-the-pygmy-seahorse/

The Pygmy seahorse Denise (Hippocampus denise) is smaller than the known "bargibanti", reaching only 2.4 cm the longest specimens identified. It tends to be less fleshy and have fewer bumps than the latter, which gives your skin a much softer appearance. This has a variation of colors that mimic that of the gorgonians that host them, the most common being red, yellow, brown and orange. Unlike the Bargibanti Hipocampus that only lives in Gorgonians of the genus "Muricella", Denise has been observed in numerous different species of gorgonians, rather than simply inhabiting one in particular.

The Hippocampus Denise has been observed at depths of up to -90 meters (-295 ft). The photographed specimen was presumably in a "Gorgonia Muricella plectana" about –35 meters deep (-115 ft).

Based on the fact that my macro lens, an Olympus M.Zuiko digital ED 60 mm, was set with the focus lock scaled to 1: 1, I could easily calculate its size later on an image processor, giving me a very approximate length to 12 mm !!

So far seven species of the pygmy seahorse have been described, plus another that is pending classification.

Conservation: Pygmy seahorses depend solely and exclusively on their host gorgonians, the destruction of a gorgonia for fishing reasons, anchors and non-respectful divers, entails the death of this beautiful and curious inhabitant of the depths.

Website of a specialized photographer:

morefundiving.com/pygmy-seahorses/

Recommendations decalogue to photograph the Seahorse. Valid also for other species very sensitive to light:

morefundiving.com/how-not-to-kill-the-pygmy -seahorse /

Iluminación: Un Flash Sea&Sea D2 en modo S-TTL con tres pasos de subexposición. T.Color 5250ºK.

Gracias de antemano a todos/as por vuestras visitas y valoraciones.

Thanks in advance to all for your visits and ratings.

info: www.sinaimonastery.com/index.php/en/description/the-monas...

The South Sinai mountain complex, with its granite mountains and arid landscape, consists also of narrow valleys and small oases that are of great religious and historical significance. These sites are associated with the forty year sojourn of the Children of Israel, and with the ascetic struggles of the hermits of Sinai, from the dawn of the monastic movement, to more recent years. The Holy Monastery of Sinai is located at the foot of Mount Horeb, the Mount of the Decalogue. The valley opposite the monastery is the traditional site where the Children of Israel camped. The modern village of Katrine is located here today.

The monastery complex built around the site of the Burning Bush and the Well of Jethro developed across the centuries. The monastery catholicon is surrounded by nine chapels and a bell tower. There are a further twelve chapels within the monastery complex. Adjacent to the Tower of Saint Helen is the residence of the Archbishop and the Chapel of the Life-giving Spring. To the west are accommodations for pilgrims, and to the north are administrative offices. To the east are the old bakery and the refectory, and a range of cells. The south wing, completed in 1951, houses the library, the icon storage room, a seminar room, and other workshops and cells.

St Mary’s or St Mary the Virgin, Emborough is a disused church, formerly of the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells and now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. Emborough is a tiny hamlet over 200 metres above sea level on the Mendip plateau, 6 miles/10 km north of Wells and 15 miles/24 km south-west of Bath.

The pulpit, which has fielded panels, dates from the 18th century, although the base is later.

The seating, of various types, may date partly from a restoration of the church in 1885–86 by JD Sedding when the fielded panels of the ousted Georgian pews were reused to form dados.

At the east end is a communion table with lunette carving of Jacobean type,

Boards inscribed with the Decalogue, Creed and Lord’s Prayer are dated 1817.

St Mary’s Church dates from at least the 12th century, but in its present form the building appears to date from the 13th century, with alterations in the later Middle Ages and at various times in the postmediaeval period, including substantial supporting work to the tower in the 1580s. Pevsner’s view is that the church ‘looks essentially of c.1800’, probably as a result of some ‘Gothick restoration’ around the turn of the 19th Century. Further restoration took place in the 1880s and then the 1920s. The shallow south porch, which incorporates a reused 17th century gravestone, seems to have been built during the 18th/19th Century restoration.

The church had been a chapelry of the parish of Chewton since 1351. After the Second World War the vicar of Chewton was still responsible for Emborough church, although students from Wells Theological College took some of the services. The building suffered from the costly effects of damp, a persistent problem over the centuries in this exposed location. The population has been below 200 since the mid-19th Century (155 in 2021). St Mary’s became redundant in 1978 and was vested in the Redundant Churches Fund (now The Churches Conservation Trust) in 1979 and subsequently repaired under the supervision of Peter Bird of Caroe and Martin

I am indebted to the excellent guide to the church produced by the Churches Conservation Trust for the information in this description.

Rödingsmarkt / Hamburg

St Edmund, Bromeswell, Suffolk

Caroline King was the wife of the Reverend Henry King, the 19th Century rector who led the massive restoration here. Her headstone is in the style of a Saxon cross with symbols of the Four Evangelists. The east window inside the church is in her memory.

The top street of this village is the horrible road from Woodbridge to Aldeburgh and Orford, but once you get down into the valley it is a surprisingly lovely and peaceful place, a twin to Ufford, across the river Deben. The church is up a quiet lane, on a mound, suggesting an ancient site. It is dedicated to the patron saint of East Anglia. I first visited this church on New Years Day 2000*, and was pleased to be the first of the new century to sign the visitors book. In fact, this church has few visitors. Possibly because it is hidden from view; and, perhaps, that it has none of the glories of its near neighbour Ufford. This is a pity, because it is a lovely little church, with some interesting features.

The tower is typically East Anglian 15th century, but not large. The tower was built in the 1450s and 1460s, and has a curious little pyramid on top of it, that may be an 18th century embellishment. The most striking thing as you approach is that there are hardly any windows in the north wall of the nave. A strange brick course extends upwards from the blocked north door. It is the outside wall of a chimney flue. An unusual modern vestry adjoins the 19th century chancel. I am told that, when it was built, a number of skeletons were found; but, because this is the north side of the church, and those in charge thought them either suicides or the unbaptised, they were reburied without ceremony.

The south porch is a handsome red brick affair, and it shelters a Norman doorway. It is a bit primitive compared with those further north in East Anglia, but an unusual survival in this area where so many churches were almost completely rebuilt. The interior, however, is almost entirely Victorian, strikingly narrow under a high pitched roof. The Victorian skylights at the east end make up for the lack of windows. The angels are mostly fibreglass copies of the two at the far east. These were carved in the 1920s by the carpenter-rector of Eyke, James Darling. The story goes that they were originally made for the church at Rendlesham, but turned out to be the wrong scale, so were presented to this church instead. You can see much more of his work, and that of his students, in his own church. The angels carry shields, and a key to these is on the wall.

The late medieval font also carries the iconography of power: this time, of church and state. Behind the font, below the tower, there are two curious holes about two metres from the floor, one in the south wall and one in the north. The one in the south has a 12th century head below it; although shallow, it looks as though it might have been a decorated corbel of some kind. The holes are about 15cm square, and go back a long way into the wall. The packing at the far end suggests that they might once have gone through to the outside.If they were directly opposite each other, you would instantly guess that they had held the two ends of a beam, perhaps supporting a floor. But they are not. Mortlock thought they might have been squints, but it is hard to think this likely.

The chancel windows are memorials to the King family, who provided vicars here throughout the 19th century. There are still modern King graves in the churchyard.

The greatest treasure of this church is not generally available to see. This is the famous Mechlin bell. This bell is decorated with two scenes of rosary mysteries, the Annunciation and the Presentation, as well as the flight into Egypt, and St Michael confronting a dragon. On it, in old Flemish, is written Jesus am I, cast by Cornelis Waghevens in the year of Our Lord 1530. When I first came this way ten years ago, I was intrigued to find out if it was still in situ. Cautley saw the bell during his 1930s survey, but I could find no mention of it in modern guides. Did it still exist? Had something forced its removal and possible loss during the intervening 70 years?

Fortunately, after I first wrote about Bromeswell church, two very kind people from St Edmund contacted me, to not only reassure me that the bell still existed, but offering to show it to me. I was very excited; although I have no head for heights, the inside of church towers always fascinate me. Also, the Mechlin bell is a major medieval art object; I would certainly go and see it if it was in the V&A, so here was a chance not to be missed.

We climbed the winding stair, the steps renewed since the tower was built, presumably at the Victorian restoration. When we reached the floor of the bell chamber, there was another surprise in store. A crumpled length of dusty metal turned out to be, on inspection, an old decalogue board. It was one of a pair, the other now vanished. These boards listed the Ten Commandments, and often the Creed and Our Father as well. They were found at the east end of every Anglican church throughout the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries; some still survive there today. This particular board was an enamelled zinc sheet, commonly found in Suffolk, but more often transferred to the west wall after the influence of the Oxford Movement had encouraged a more sacramental approach to worship. The wooden base of this sheet stood beside it, and was presumably removed from the chancel at the time the King family led a makeover in the 1870s.

But on we went, up a narrow ladder, on to the medieval bell-frame. This frame of narrow planks sits about 15 feet above the bell-chamber floor, perhaps 50 feet above ground. I balanced myself precariously on a timber to examine the gorgeous bell. The side I'd climbed features the Annunciation panel, and the end of the inscription, including the date.

I 'm afraid that my nervousness (more like naked terror, actually) prevented me climbing across the bell frame to photograph the other side, but what I'd seen delighted me. The bell frame contains two bells, although the tower contains space for a third. There was only space for two when Cautley saw them in the early 1930s, before they were rehung. The other bell is perhaps 200 years older than the Mechlin bell, but it is, unfortunately, cracked. Cautley deciphered a request for St Paul to pray for us, in Lombardic script.

*pedants will tell you that the 21st Century began on New Year's Day 2001, not 2000. Don't listen to them.

Those who read two photos back about Bonnie Dundee's departure from Edinburgh in 1689, might be wondering what became of the Duke of Gordon and his castle garrison. Well, here's the answer!

The Castle for King James! A.D. 1689

When on Ravelston's cliffs "the wild war notes of Bonnie Dundee" had died away, the Duke of Gordon turned him to his hard task to defend the Castle entrusted to his care by his Sovereign, and maintain the 'maiden fortress' inviolate until the promised relief should come. Within twenty days Dundee had said he would return at the head of his victorious Highlanders. Only three weeks! Could the Castle be held till then? The Duke was a brave soldier, an honourable man, and a patriotic Scot, albeit a most loyal servant of King James. No better defender could the Castle have had. Under him what could be done would be done. But he was fighting against heavy odds; and he knew it.

Already he had received a taste of what was to come, for since 9th December the Castle had been on its guard at first against any sudden attack by an infuriated mob such as on that day had stormed Holyrood and wrecked the Chapel Royal; and latterly against 'any attempt to enforce what the governor considered the unconstitutional demand of the Privy Council, that he, being a Papist, should surrender the Castle to them. More serious, but equally ineffectual, was a similar request made on 14th March by the Earls of Lothian and Tweeddale on behalf of the Convention of Estates, which had then met. And most ominous of all was the formal demand which then followed. Clothed in full official dress, the royal heralds appeared before the Castle gates and summoned the Duke to surrender, proclaiming him a traitor if he should refuse, and promising a reward of six months' pay to the Protestants in the garrison if they would seize the Duke and deliver up the Castle. But, despite the threat and the danger, the Duke refused to comply. "Tell the Convention," he said, "I keep the Castle by commission from our common master, and am resolved to defend it to the last extremity." Then, with a good-humoured irony, such as often lightened the serious conflicts of these days, he handed some guineas to the heralds, telling them to drink the King's health and that of all honest men in the Convention, and added; "I would advise you not to proclaim men traitors to the State who have the King's coat on their backs at least until they have turned it.

After this there was no alternative but that of arms. But first, ere the siege should begin in earnest, the Duke made sure that none were within the Castle unwillingly. Parading the whole garrison, he gave to all who so desired the opportunity to leave. Eighty soldiers, forming nearly half the force, availed themselves of the opportunity, and there was left a depleted garrison of three officers (the Duke of Gordon, Colonel Winram the Lieutenant-Governor, and Ensign Winchester), four sergeants, sixty privates, and twenty volunteers. A small band truly for the work that was waiting! But more serious even than the paucity of men was the deficiency of stores and ammunition. Only seventeen bombs were in the magazine, and of powder and ball barely sufficient for three months' defence. Yet with a brave heart, hoping much and daring more, the Duke made all necessary arrangements for the defence, and on 18th March, the day of Dundee's departure, the real siege began.

That day the Castle was invested by forces hastily raised by the Convention, and drawn mainly from the Cameronian Whigs who thronged the city. In later times the fine regiment thus brought into being has won for itself a name and fame second to none*, and even in these first days of its soldiering. its keenest opponents had to admit the intense zeal and fighting power of the men; though coupled with such admissions there might be sundry other reflections of a different kind. "These Cameronians," writes one of the Castle garrison, who kept a most valuable diary of the siege, "are the worst kind of Presbyterians, who confine the Church to a few of the western shires of the kingdom of Scotland ; disclaim all kings (save King Jesus) who will not worship God after their way; think it their duty to murder all who are out of the state of grace that is, not of their communion; in a word, who take away the second table of the decalogue upon pretence of keeping the first; and who are only for sacrifice, but for no mercy at all."

(*As a former Gordon Highlander, I can’t entirely agree with that!)

Anyhow, these Cameronians made good soldiers, and for a week they watched the Castle well. But for siege work troops of experience and gunners of accurate aim were needed; and on 25th March there arrived from England three regiments under General Mackay, bringing with them "cannons, provisions, arms, and ammunition," and the Cameronians were relieved of their first military duty.

Batteries were at once erected and trenches dug, and soon the Castle was exposed to a fairly continuous artillery fire, to which, through lack of artillery ammunition, it could make but little effective reply. At times, however, the Castle guns did bark now at the ruined tower of Castle Collops on the High Riggs, where a battery had been erected, and again at the old tower of Coates and generally a bite followed the bark. But the Duke wished to avoid, as far as possible, inflicting any injury on the buildings of the town, and this placed a restraint on the efforts of his gunners, such as those of the besieging force knew nothing of, with the result that the Castle garrison sustained far heavier damage than did the besiegers.

The life within the Castle in these strenuous days is reflected in the welcome Diary of the Siege. At first the spirits of the garrison were high. When tidings arrived that King James had landed in Ireland they spent some of their precious ammunition in making the guns roar out a royal salute, and in the evening bonfires blazed exultingly on the ramparts. A few days later they poked fun at the besiegers. By beat of drum they asked a parley, and gravely requested that they might be supplied with a few packs of cards for their amusement! It was a pleasing bit of bravado, for truly little time had the men for cards.

By the middle of May they had less. Fresh troops arrived to help the besiegers, and additional artillery. Heriot's Hospital and Mouterhouse Hill (the site of the Register House) were each provided with a battery, and the rain of bombs upon the Castle became incessant. Still the garrison kept cheerful. Bombs did not travel then with the velocity of modern shells, and could usually be avoided. But the buildings could not avoid them, and very soon the accurate range and elevation having been obtained, every roof in the Castle was shattered. The church was destroyed, the Royal quarters were seriously damaged, and the only safe retreat for those who were off duty was in the vaults underground. Still there was no despair. Food continued sufficient, and a growing anxiety about the water-supply was temporarily removed by an event which was regarded as an expression of Nature's sympathy with the Stuart cause! On 2Oth May there was a snowstorm of such uncommon severity that all over the Castle yard the snow lay to a depth of two feet. A large quantity was hastily collected, and in melting supplied the men with the much-needed water; and still the hearts of the besieged kept hopeful.

In the city they had numerous friends with whom they contrived to maintain frequent communication, and so kept in touch with those who were fighting King James's cause elsewhere. For this most valuable intercourse they were especially indebted to a lady, Mrs Ann Smith, a keen Jacobite, the window of whose house was visible from the Castle. Should a friend wish to visit the Castle she signalled from her window, and that night a party of six would leave the fortress by a gateway on the north wall overlooking the Nor' Loch, and, descending the rock, would row to the other side of the Loch and convey the visitor, who was ready waiting. On safe return a musket was discharged from the Half-Moon Battery, and Mrs Smith knew that all was well.

But on 31st May this refreshing intercourse with the outer world came to an abrupt end, and in a manner that cast a gloom over the whole garrison. It was discovered in the morning that five men had deserted overnight to the enemy! At once the Governor realised what this would mean to their friends in town, and hastily despatched a messenger to warn them of their danger and bid them flee. But the warning came too late; the deserters had been beforehand. Every friend of the Castle was arrested and imprisoned, especially hard being the treatment meted out to Mrs Smith. The secret approaches to the fortress, being now revealed, were strongly guarded, and the information received as to the straits of the garrison for food and ammunition caused the siege to be pressed more vigorously than ever. Entrenchments were thrown up on the eastern approach, not far from the Half-Moon Battery, and in exultation an orange flag was fluttered in sight of the besieged.

It was evident to the Duke that unless some unforeseen event happened the struggle must quickly cease, so, summoning the garrison together, he told them plainly how things stood, and again gave to every man the opportunity of withdrawing from the Castle. To their honour, be it said, not a man availed himself of the offer. Thanking them for their loyalty, the Duke at the same time assured them that he would not put an unreasonable strain upon their devotion. "Gentlemen," he said, "if we be not relieved in a competent time I will capitulate; and every one of you shall have as good terms as myself."

A week of vigorous cannonading followed, in the course of which the wall of St. Cuthbert's Church was breached by the Castle guns, as some of the besieging force had sheltered themselves behind it. But things in the Castle were getting steadily worse. Twenty men were sick, and "scarce forty were healthful to do duty"; the water was foul and scanty; the food was running done, there being "not victuals for ten days save bread and salt herrings"; and, worst of all, the ammunition was nearly exhausted. It was the beginning of the end. Before however yielding to the inevitable, one last endeavour was made by the Duke to find if there were any chance of relief coming. On the night of 9th June Mr John Grant was lowered over the rocks opposite the West Port, with instructions to make his way to friends and signal to the Castle if there was hope of help. Anxiously the Duke waited all next day, but no signal was given. On 9th June it came. Alas, it was 'No help.' So the drums beat a parley, and the white flag was put out.

Not at once, however, came the end. Negotiations indeed began, but when the Duke asked terms and exchange of hostages in security, his request was abruptly negatived. The only terms were to be unconditional surrender. So in anger the negotiating parties separated, and the fight went on. A few more lives had to be sacrificed before the end should come. That very night a storming party attacked the Castle on the north side, but only to be driven back to the water's edge with several losses. "Advance, you dogs!" the officers were heard to cry, and the men on the ramparts jeered. "Dogs," they shouted, "will you not obey your officers, you dogs?" Similar failure waited a further attack which was made next day by the main approach, when the attacking force was repelled by the garrison, who kept their spirits up by singing throughout the firing, "The King shall enjoy his ain again."

But that was the finish. On the following day, 13th June, the white flag again fluttered from the wall; negotiations for surrender were completed, and the fortress of Scotland's capital passed for ever from the hold of the Stuarts. To the garrison was given freedom to depart; to Colonel Winram was granted security of life and property; to the gallant governor was promised only what grace King William might see fit to bestow. More had not been asked. "For myself," the Duke had said, "I have too much confidence in all the princes who are descended from James VI to insist on any particular terms, though I must secure a pardon for my soldiers."

It is pleasing to know that the gallant soldier's confidence in the other brave soldier who now sat on the throne of the Stuarts was not misplaced; nor did William's clemency to the defender of the Castle go unjustified. A thorough Jacobite indeed the Duke remained to the day of his death, but the promise he gave to King William of passive loyalty to his rule was never broken. Honoured by both parties alike, he spent the rest of his days in the quiet retreat of his northern home, and still lives in the memory of his countrymen as the soldier who held the Castle for his exiled King with a loyalty and courage that confer a lustre on the cause that was upheld by so leal a servant.

Marshal Arts

Russell`s 4th commandment from his Decolague:

"When you meet with opposition, even if it should be from your husband or your children, endeavour to overcome it by argument and not by authority, for a victory dependent upon authority is unreal and illusory."

8th Commandment

"Find more pleasure in intelligent dissent than in passive agreement, for, if you value intelligence as you should, the former implies a deeper agreement than the latter."

Das 4. Gebot aus Russells Dekalog:

"Wenn dir jemand widerspricht, und sei es dein Ehepartner oder dein Kind, bemühe dich, ihm mit Argumenten zu begegnen und nicht mit der Autorität, denn ein Sieg der Autorität ist unrealistisch und illusionär."

8. Gebot:

"Freue dich mehr über intelligenten Widerspruch als über passive Zustimmung; denn wenn die Intelligenz so viel wert ist,wie sie dir wert sein sollte, dann liegt im Widerspruche eine tiefere Zustimmung."

#CharlieHebdo #charlie #hebdo #JeSuisCharlie #jesuischarlie #ParisShooting #atheism #freethinker #russell #teapot #teekanne #gebote #dekalog #decalogue

Part of: "an apple a day keeps the doctor away - An ENSO (Japanese: circle, Japanisch: Kreis) a day .... " Aktion Kreis Tagebuch A circle diary - Start of the 365-days Project: 1. September / 13. 1. 2015 - Tag 4 der 6 Tage Aktion mit einem getragenen T-Shirt

DMC-G2 - P1870897 - 2015-01-13

Park Staromiejski (tzw. Park Śledzia) – park w Łodzi, położony pomiędzy ulicami Zachodnią, Ogrodową/Północną, Franciszkańską i Wolborską, przedzielony ul. Nowomiejską. Powierzchnia 17 ha.

Powstał w latach 1951–1953 według projektu K. Chrabelskiego. Położony na Starym Mieście w dolinie rzeki Łódki, schowanej obecnie w podziemnym kanale.

W parku znajduje się staw na rzece Łódce, rzeźba Henryka Burzeca, zegar słoneczny i Pomnik Dekalogu (Mojżesza) po stronie wschodniej oraz fontanna, pomnik Aleksandra Kamińskiego i stoliki szachowe po zachodniej.

Park nazywany jest potocznie przez łodzian ˌˌparkiem śledziaˈˈ. Nazwa pochodzi prawdopodobnie od zlokalizowanego w tym miejscu przed II wojną światową targu rybnego. Na targu królował solony śledź – jeden z najtańszych wtedy artykułów spożywczych.

-------------------------------

The Old Park (the Herring Park) in Lodz.

It was built between 1951-1953 and designed by K. Chrabelski. It's located in the old town in the valley of the River Łódka, nowadays concealed in an underground channel.

In the park there is a pond on the River Łódka, Henryk Burzec's sculpture, a sundial and a Monument of the Decalogue (Moses) on the east side and a fountain, statue of Alexander Kaminski and chess tables on the west side.

The park is commonly called by the inhabitants of Lodz - the Herring Park. The name probably comes from the fact that in this place, before World War II, the fish market was located and salted herring, as the cheapest food, was the most popular then.

Kieslowski's Decalogue screening in SF.

Nikon N90s and Fujichrome color slide film, ca. 2000

#CharlieHebdo #charlie #hebdo #JeSuisCharlie #jesuischarlie #ParisShooting #atheism #freethinker #russell #teapot #teekanne #gebote #dekalog #decalogue

Part of: "an apple a day keeps the doctor away - An ENSO (Japanese: circle, Japanisch: Kreis) a day .... " Aktion Kreis Tagebuch A circle diary - Start of the 365-days Project: 1. September / 14. 1. 2015 - Tag 5 der 6 Tage Aktion mit einem getragenen T-Shirt // Prokrustes

DMC-G2 - P1870924 - 2015-01-14

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:

Zephaniah 2:3; 3:12-13

Psalm 146:6-7, 8-9, 9-10

1 Corinthians 1:26-31

Matthew 5:1-12a

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

With this Fourth Sunday, we're up to our necks in "ordinary time"—living the Christian life in the messiness of everyday life.

We're into the boring grind of "just living." Perhaps it's not so boring if we have the right equipment . . . like tough faith, tough love, and lots of humility! We're talking here about the Beatitudes. If you think the Ten Commandments are demanding, try the Beatitudes on for size! They make the Decalogue look like a piece of cake!

With even more authority than Moses, Jesus is pictured in the Gospel as sitting down, the traditional posture for delivering solemn edicts. He turns middle-class values upside down. Have you ever had your picture taken while standing on your head? You'd look pretty foolish, wouldn't you? Well, that's the way the Beatitudes make a comfortable, easy-going Christian look—just plain foolish!

So we protest: "Do you mean that I have to sit down on the street and cry with a homeless person, or a poor woman just evicted from her apartment? Or . . . ?" Perhaps nothing so dramatic. Let's try a different approach.

Have you ever in your life written to your congressman about unjust legislation? Currently, in New York State, there's the Governor's Program Bill #16 (S.5829). It's called the Reproductive Health and Privacy Protection Act. It would allow abortions into the third trimester at an outpatient clinic that could be performed by any health care practitioner. For more information, go to www.nyscatholic.org or ask your parish secretary to give you the address of the New York State Catholic Conference. Then sit down and write! This is how an ordinary Catholic can live the Beatitudes.

Or have you ever taken the time to visit a home for the elderly, or volunteered your time as an auxiliary at your local hospital? Have you ever asked your pastor for the names of some shut-ins who need a phone call, or a note, or a sick person who could use a bowl of soup, or someone to bring them Holy Communion?

It's a question of attitude, looking at those less fortunate from the conviction that you yourself have been incredibly blest by the Lord, and hoping to give just a little bit back in thanksgiving.

And what are the rewards? Zephaniah says the faithful remnant will live a life of peacefulness, and Jesus says such a person is "blessed," and they will have unimaginable rewards in the Kingdom.

It would be impossible to assess the influence of the Sermon on the Mount on the history of Christianity. Those who have taken seriously the "option for the poor" have suffered great loss economically, politically, and personally. Jesus told us to expect that treatment. After all, He is the prime example for the martyrdom that results when Truth confronts Power. Only God's grace can give us the courage to imitate the Lord in whatever ways our circumstances will suggest. Then, we need not wait very long to experience the solace, the peace, and the joy of heart flowing into our souls from defending the poor and the powerless of this world.

- Msgr. Paul Whitmore | email: pwhitmore29@)yahoo.com

EXPLORE # 216 on initial list on Sunday, February 3, 2008; # 368 & # 454 on 02-04-2008.

St Mary, Preston St Mary, Suffolk

Ambitious rebuild of the late 15th Century, but retaining a splendid 12th Century font. The church underwent an enthusiastic 19th Century restoration including a rebuild of tower and chancel, but it is notable for Suffolk's only royal arms of Elizabeth I and a contemporary decalogue board.

The church was open daily before covid and is open daily now.

More: www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/preston.html

Yan 'Dargent. 1824-1899. Paris.

Les lavandières de la nuit.

The washerwomen of the night vers 1861

Quimper. Musée des Beaux Arts.

Légende bretonne.

Breton legend.

LE LAID DANS L'ART ANCIEN ET DANS L'ART CONTEMPORAIN

Chaïm Soutine (1834-1943) et Egon Schiele (1890-1918) sont des artistes qui appartiennent à l'Art Moderne. Mais dans certaines de leurs oeuvres ils annoncent tous deux la religion du Laid qui caractérise l' Art Contemporain officiel qui s'impose en Occident à partir des années 1950.

Dans l'Art Ancien, "les Beaux Arts", le Beau est le but à atteindre par le peintre ou le sculpteur.

Il faut laisser de côté les définitions abstraites. Les philosophes n'ont jamais réussi à donner une définition satisfaisante et incontestable du Beau. Laissons à Platon son Idée d'un Beau transcendant impossible à atteindre. Restons à un niveau plus trivial, celui de la beauté remarquable, concrète : il n'y a absolument aucune discussion sérieuse quant à l'existence du Beau, d'une sensation commune, une émotion poétique, partagée par des millions d'hommes, depuis l'Art Paléolithique, l'Art Egyptien jusqu'à l'Art Moderne, depuis la Chine jusqu'à l'Europe et l'Amérique. Le Beau ne se définit pas, il se ressent individuellement et collectivement. Individuellement ressenti le beau est seulement subjectif, il n'a d'importance que pour une personne, collectivement ressenti, partagé par les élites et les populations il s'objective. Il devient une réalité à l'échelle d'une collectivité plus ou moins large et même jusqu'à la Terre entière. Le Beau est tout simplement un fait vérifié par l'expérience de milliers de générations d'humains sur l'ensemble de la Terre.

Dans les Beaux Arts, le Laid avait cependant sa place, son rôle à jouer, ainsi qu'on le voit chez des peintres comme Jérôme Bosch (1450-1516), Matthias Grünewald (1475-1528), Jan Mandyn (1500-1560), Pieter Bruegel I (1525-1569), Jacques Callot 1592-1635), Adriaen Brouwer (1605-1638) et plus tard chez Francisco de Goya (1746-1828) ou Otto Dix (1891-1969). Sans prétendre être exhaustif.

Le Laid est alors le moyen d'exprimer le tragique de la vie humaine, les hideurs, le mal dont l'humanité est la fois responsable et victime. Le laid sert à montrer, dénoncer, les vices qui inspirent les hommes, les infirmités ou les maladies qui les font souffrir, la mort qui est leur lot commun, les souffrances d'un portement de croix ou d'une crucifixion, les affres de l'Enfer, les malheurs de la guerre et de ses suites, le tragique de la pauvreté et des famines....

Chez des artistes comme Chaïm Soutine et Egon Schiele on voit poindre, non pas systématiquement, mais occasionnellement, à titre de choix personnel, une nouvelle utilisation du Laid qui n'est plus seulement justifiée par la dénonciation du Mal et la représentation des difficultés de la vie. L'artiste tend à peindre la laideur pour elle même. L'expression du laid chez les êtres humains ou animaux, au physique comme au moral, devient un but en soi, sans aucune intention didactique, critique ou polémique. Ce choix n'est que l'expression d'une fascination individuelle pour le laid, on pourrait même dire pour les "beautés" du laid. C'est ainsi que le Laid commence à pouvoir devenir un but de l'art européen, sans qu'il soit nécessaire de lui trouver une justification ou même simplement une explication. Mais à l'époque de Chaïm Soutine et Egon Schiele, l'époque de l'Art Moderne (1830-1950), le Laid n'est encore qu'une possibilité qui s'offre à un artiste peintre, une possibilité, parmi d'autres, d'exprimer ses tendances personnelles.

C'est seulement avec l'Art Contemporain officiel, à partir des Années 1950, que le Laid cesse d'être un phénomène circonscrit, répondant à des buts précis ou offert facultativement et alternativement, mais devient le but de l'art. L'Art Contemporain officiel met en place un système anti- Beau, une idéologie qui récuse le Beau, comme inutile, dépassé, amoral, ringard, fasciste etc... L'Art Contemporain officiel fait du Laid le premier commandement d'un nouveau Décalogue, à égalité avec l'Absurde qui s'ajoute au simple non-sens auquel aboutit l'art abstrait.

Cette nouvelle conception de l'Art est bien sûr présentée comme un progrès, une avancée conceptuelle, un élargissement des habitudes du regard, des émotions et de l'esprit. Elle est définitivement la meilleure, s'impose comme une religion nouvelle, et récuse tout ce qui n'est pas conforme à son catéchisme. Plus c'est laid, plus c'est absurde et plus c'est de l'art contemporain. Et bien sûr plus cela entraîne la reconnaissance publique, les honneurs des musées spécialisés, les décorations, et aussi plus c'est cher, et donc plus cela rapporte. Un grand nombre d'artistes ont parfaitement compris le nouveau système, et ce sont pliés à ses dogmes académiques pour réussir leur vie professionnelle et financière. Raphaël ou Rubens auraient sans doute agi de même, mais à leur époque les élites idéologiques et politiques n'avaient pas cette exigence du Laid, mais celle contraire, du Beau.

Le poisson pourrit par la tête.

THE UGLY IN ANCIENT ART AND CONTEMPORARY ART

Chaim Soutine (1834-1943) and Egon Schiele (1890-1918) are artists who belong to Modern Art. But in some of their works they both announce the religion of the Ugly which characterizes the Official Contemporary Art that imposes itself in the West from the 1950s.

In Ancient Art, the "Fine Arts", the Beautiful is the goal to reach by the painter or the sculptor.

We must leave aside the abstract definitions. Philosophers have never succeeded in giving a satisfactory and indisputable definition of the beautiful. Let us leave Plato his idea of a beautiful transcendent impossible to reach. Let us remain on a more trivial level, that of remarkable, concrete beauty: there is absolutely no serious discussion about the existence of the beautiful, of a common sensation, a poetic emotion, shared by millions of men, from Paleolithic Art, Egyptian Art to Modern Art, from China to Europe and America. The Beautiful does not define itself, it is felt individually and collectively. Individually felt the beautiful is only subjective, it only matters for a person, collectively felt, shared by the elites and the people he is objectively. The Beautiful becomes a reality at the scale of a community more or less wide and even to the whole earth. The Beautiful is simply a fact verified by the experience of thousands of generations of humans on the whole Earth.

In the Fine Arts, the Ugly however had its place, its role to play, as seen in painters like Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516), Matthias Grünewald (1475-1528), Jan Mandyn (1500-1560) , Pieter Bruegel I (1525-1569), Jacques Callot 1592-1635), Adriaen Brouwer (1605-1638) and later at Francisco de Goya (1746-1828) or Otto Dix (1891-1969). Without pretending to be exhaustive.

The Laid is then the means to express the tragedy of human life, the horrors, the evil of which humanity is both responsible and victim. The ugly is used to show, denounce, the vices that inspire men, the infirmities or diseases that make them suffer, the death that is their common lot, the suffering of a carrying the cross, or a crucifixion, the throes of Hell, the misfortunes of war and its aftermath, the tragedy of poverty and famine ....

In artists such as Chaim Soutine and Egon Schiele, a new use of the Laid is emerging, not systematically, but occasionally, as a personal choice, which is no longer justified only by the denunciation of Evil and the representation of the difficulties of the life. The artist tends to paint ugliness for herself. The expression of ugliness in human or animal beings, both physically and morally, becomes a goal in itself, without any didactic, critical or polemical intention. This choice is only the expression of an individual fascination for the ugly, one could even say for the "beauties" of ugly. This is how the Ugly begins to become a goal of European art, without it being necessary to find a justification for it or even simply an explanation. But at the time of Chaim Soutine and Egon Schiele, the era of Modern Art (1830-1950), the ugly is still only a possibility for a painter, a possibility, among others, of express your personal tendencies.

It is only with the Official Contemporary Art, from the 1950s, that the Ugly ceases to be a circumscribed phenomenon, meeting specific goals or offered optionally and alternately, but becomes the goal of art. Official Contemporary Art sets up an anti-beautiful system, an ideology that rejects the Beautiful, as useless, outdated, amoral, corny, fascist etc ... Official Contemporary Art makes the Ugly the first command of a new Decalogue, equal to the Absurdity, that is added to the simple non-sense to which abstract art has resulted.

This new conception of Art is of course presented as a progress, a conceptual advance, an enlargement of habits of the gaze, emotions and spirit. She is definitely the best, imposes herself as a new religion, and rejects all that is not in conformity with her catechism. The uglier it is, the more absurd it is and the more it is contemporary art. And of course, the more it leads to public recognition, the honors of the specialized museums, the decorations, and also the more expensive it is, and therefore the more it pays. A large number of artists have fully understood the new system, and they obeyed to its academic dogmas to succeed in their professional and financial life. Raphael or Rubens would undoubtedly have done the same, but in their time the ideological and political elites did not have this requirement of the Ugly, but the opposite, of the Beautiful.

The fish rotten by the head.

St Nicholas, Lockington, Leicestershire

A shadow in a tiny pane, barely 2cm across. A Christian image? A pagan one? Or a lost folk memory?

Lockington is a pretty village on the outskirts of the small town of Castle Donington, in north-west Leicestershire. St Nicholas does not appear to be a well-known church, but it is an absolute delight, full of fascinating detail, a complement to nearby Breedon-on-the Hill and Ratcliffe-on-Soar.

The most striking feature of the church is the vast tympanum containing the royal arms of Queen Anne, which is set above decalogue boards and a 15th century rood screen.

Indeed, apart from the royal arms, and despite some Norman and Early English details, this church is overwhelmingly a product of the 15th century. Most significant is the quantity of late medieval glass.

As you would expect in this part of the East Midlands, there is a magnificent 15th century alabaster memorial, recoloured. On the other side of the Reformation divide is a late 16th century memorial in the chancel.

Most of all, the church is atmospheric, redolent of the long generations. It is an absolute delight.

Harmony Korine was born in Bolinas, California, in 1973. His family moved to the east coast of the United States when he was five, and he spent his early years in Nashville, Tennessee, and New York. At the age of 19, he wrote the critically acclaimed screenplay Kids (1995) for director Larry Clark. At the time of release of Gummo (1997), he was currently at work writing a new feature and a 10-part decalogue called "Jokes," which is to be financed through French investors.

Week 8 Krzsztof Kieślowski (1286 – 1290) 3/29 – 4/1/2022 ID 1287

Charles Sheeler American, 1883-1965

Neighbors , 1951

Oil on canvas

Charles Sheeler based Neighbors on a combination of photographs he took in New York, bringing together the historical faҫade of St. Patrick”s Cathedral with more modern buildings on 5th Avenue near Rockefeller Center. The angled and intersecting lines of the buildings create a dynamism that individual elements wouldn’t have had on their own. With no view of the street or sky, the painting immerses the viewer in the built environment and gives the dizzying sensation of experiencing many views at once.

Gift of C.K. Williams, II, 2015-8-2

From the Placard: The Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA

www.philamuseum.org/

en.wikipedia.org

/wiki/Charles_Sheeler

www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/shee/hd_shee.htm

youtu.be/cXaJ83ExpPY

Film: Dekalog 1988 (Decalogue)

youtu.be/cYio8DB-4T8

youtu.be/ZWl2s52SSFA

The Decalogue is a name for the ten commandments. William Tyndale had translated the whole of the New Testament but was executed in 1536 before he had completed his translation of the Old Testament. This is a modern spelling version of Tyndale's translation of the book of Exodus chapter twenty; verse numbers had not been inserted at that time.

February Alphabet Fun group's fourth picture of the month comes to you by courtesy of the letter D.

St Mary, Preston St Mary, Suffolk

Ambitious rebuild of the late 15th Century, but retaining a splendid 12th Century font. The church underwent an enthusiastic 19th Century restoration including a rebuild of tower and chancel, but it is notable for Suffolk's only royal arms of Elizabeth I and a contemporary decalogue board.

The church was open daily before covid and is open daily now.

More: www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/preston.html

The Ten Commandments, or Decalogue, are a list of religious and moral

imperatives which, according to the Hebrew Bible, were written by God and given

to Moses on Mount Sinai in the form of two stone tablets. They feature prominently

in Judaism and Christianity... more in Wikipedia

"Relics of the Jewish religion".. Exhibition in "Zsidó Múzeum" (Hungarian

Jewish Museum and Archives) in Budapest, Hungary...

Dedicated to 'mansgris'.. the most honest human being I know...

St Edmund, Bromeswell, Suffolk

One of the two decalogue boards, crumpled painted sheets of iron that were once in the chancel. Photographed in the belfry of Bromeswell church on New Years Day 2000.

More: www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/bromeswell.htm

St Mary, Diss, Norfolk

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,

Old Time is still a-flying:

And this same flower that smiles to-day

To-morrow will be dying.

The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,

The higher he's a-getting,

The sooner will his race be run,

And nearer he's to setting.

That age is best which is the first,

When youth and blood are warmer;

But being spent, the worse, and worst

Times still succeed the former.

Then be not coy, but use your time,

And while ye may, go marry:

For having lost but once your prime,

You may for ever tarry.

Robert Herrick, To the Virgins, to make much of Time, 1648

If I was asked which town out of all of those I have visited is most typical of Norfolk, then I would certainly say Diss. It is ancient, quirky, predominantly working class. Its people are friendly yet reticent, politically conservative, socially liberal, welcoming but uncompromising. Its architecture is utilitarian, with glimpses of sudden loveliness that make you gasp.

Betjeman loved Diss above all East Anglian towns, and often said he was more proud of being president of the Diss Society than of being Poet Laureate. His friend Mary Wilson, a minor poet and wife of the Prime Minister of the day, had been brought up in Diss; he wrote to her: Dear Mary, yes, it will be bliss, to go with you by train to Diss...

In the 1970s, there was a local lobby for Diss to be the centre of regional government in the east of England, sitting as it does exactly halfway between Norwich and Ipswich. Whitehall smiled and nodded, and then sensibly opted for Cambridge, reasonably considering that one shouldn't allow such things as regional government to get too far out of ones grasp.

Diss became a backwater in the 17th and 18th centuries, and no major fire led to its rebuilding like Bungay, Beccles and other places in the Waveney valley. Because of this, Diss is second only to Sudbury in having more surviving medieval houses than any other town in East Anglia of its size. The other feel of the place is 19th century, because Diss was a railway town, and still is. Tudor and Victorian architecture is a happy combination, and Diss retains narrow streets and cobbled yards that have been bulldozed elsewhere.

More recently, European money has funded a major refurbishing of the Mere area (did I mention that Diss is the only market town in England built around a large lake?) and the town is also taking part in CittaSlow, a European-led project for small towns which aims to keep fast cars and fast food out, making the streets safe for pedestrians, pavement cafes and good food. And right in the heart of the town, hemmed in by narrow streets and leaning 16th century buildings, is the great church of St Mary.

The massive rebuilt Victorian chancel detracts from the nave, but this is also huge, and largely the product of the late 15th century. The attention to detail on the buttresses is remarkable. Every one has a pedestal in the form of an animal that once supported an image of a Saint. It must have been quite a sight. The 14th century tower has a processional archway through the base, as at St Peter Mancroft in Norwich, and like that church this one also has a wooden fleche turret surmounting the tower, dating from 1906.

This, then, is a grand, urban church, central and essential to the townscape. Its churchyard is crossed by pathways that lead between the market square and the houses beyond the church; there is constant pedestrian traffic. Like all great urban churches St Mary is open all day, everyday, and is well-used. Not once have I ever been alone inside.

Being a grand, urban church, I am afraid that St Mary is almost entirely Victorianised. I do not know who the architect was, but I thought I detected the hand of Richard Phipson, responsible for the refurbishment of St Peter Mancroft and the complete rebuilding of St Mary le Tower in Ipswich. He would have been diocesan architect at the time, so whatever plans were made here would have passed through his hands in any case. There are a few medieval survivals - but very few. They are exquisite little panels of 15th and 16th century glass, handily set in the west window of the south aisle so you can get them out the way before you enter into the Victorianism of it all. A pretty girl wears a garland of flowers. A bearded man sits in a chair. A crowned woman in a kennel headdress gazes up piously. A Madonna and child, so faded as to be transparent, to be barely there. They are the ghosts of medieval Diss.

There are two piscinas in the south aisle, one of them 13th century, about four metres short of the east end, and a 15th century one further east. The first piscina obviously marks the end of the original aisle before the 15th century extension.

Everything else is post-Reformation. This is essentially an Anglican church. There is a remarkable decalogue board on the west wall which I take to be 18th century, but the overwhelming impression here is of the 1860s and 1870s, which brought the grand sanctuary and east window, the furnishings and, most of all, the glass. Every window in the nave is filled with the work of Ward & Hughes at their most imposing. Pevsner thought it was terrible, but actually there are a few details that are worth selecting, for taken in isolation they look like illustrations in a Victorian children's book, and are quite charming.

The glass in the chancel is quite something else. It is by Francis Oliphant, and Pevsner considered it an important work, the scenes of the nativity and the entombment in particular. There are a couple of other very interesting 19th century windows in the chancel and south aisle chapel, but unfortunately some of the best, including another Oliphant, were removed in 1980 in an attempt to make the chancel lighter.

A couple of curiosities. There are a number of late 19th and early 20th century brasses around the walls, as if this was a significant local industry in those days. The Camden Society at Cambridge had assumed that there would be a memorial brass revival on the scale of the stained glass revival. This of course did not happen, but two of the best are here, one signed by Weyer & Co of Norwich.

There is a large early 18th century tombchest in the north aisle to one Richard Burton. The lengthy inscription is worth a read. Basically, it says that he left a hundred pounds, and the interest of this was to go to the parish for the work of maintaining his tomb. Any money left over was to be given to the poor of Diss. However, if his executors felt that the tomb was not being maintained, then the job and the money were to default to the parish and poor of neighbouring Roydon instead. Hedging his bets still further, Burton's inscription then goes on to say that if Roydon isn't up to the job, then the benefit will fall to Bressingham, the next parish out.

To finish, it is worth saying that Diss is as proud as any small town is of its famous son and daughters. An expansion in housing around the town in the last fifteen years has left plenty of scope for naming new roads. The aforementioned Betjeman, Wilson, Manning and Burton have all been immortalised. Other commemorated Diss people include another Poet Laureate, John Skelton, probably the most idiosyncratic voice of 16th century poetry. He was renowned for his compassion, and his enthusiasm for inventing words; Keats and Auden both claimed debts. He was Catholic parish priest here for thirty years in pre-Reformation days. He once stood in the pulpit and held up what the church guide charmingly calls a 'love-child', claiming it as his own, and defying the congregation to find fault with it, its mother or with him.

John Wilbye, the Elizabethan composer of madrigals, came from Diss. Thomas Paine is more usually associated with Thetford where he was born, but he lived in Diss for twenty years, and perhaps learned his radical politics here, for Diss in the 18th century was a hotbed of non-conformism. A mark of how civilised this town is can be seen even out in the anonymous roads of the new estates, where many of the street signs include a brief explanation of the person or event the road is named after. Living in Diss must be an education in itself.

"God spoke all these words. He said, ‘I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

‘You shall have no gods except me.

‘You shall not make yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything in heaven or on earth beneath or in the waters under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God and I punish the father’s fault in the sons, the grandsons, and the great-grandsons of those who hate me; but I show kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

‘You shall not utter the name of the Lord your God to misuse it, for the Lord will not leave unpunished the man who utters his name to misuse it.

‘Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. For six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath for the Lord your God. You shall do no work that day, neither you nor your son nor your daughter nor your servants, men or women, nor your animals nor the stranger who lives with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that these hold, but on the seventh day he rested; that is why the Lord has blessed the sabbath day and made it sacred.

‘Honour your father and your mother so that you may have a long life in the land that the Lord your God has given to you.

‘You shall not kill.

‘You shall not commit adultery.

‘You shall not steal.

‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.

‘You shall not covet your neighbour’s house. You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his servant, man or woman, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is his.’"

– Exodus 20:1-17, which is today's 1st reading at Mass.

My sermon for the 3rd Sunday of Lent can be read here.

Stained glass window from Norwich Cathedral.

"Jesus said to his disciples: ‘In your prayers do not babble as the pagans do, for they think that by using many words they will make themselves heard. Do not be like them; your Father knows what you need before you ask him. So you should pray like this:

‘Our Father in heaven,

may your name be held holy,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us.

And do not put us to the test,

but save us from the evil one.

‘Yes, if you forgive others their failings, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours; but if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive your failings either.’"

– Matthew 6:7-15, which is today's Gospel.

From 1604 the Lord's Prayer, the Decalogue, and the Apostles Creed, were mandated to be placed behind the Altar in Anglican churches.

This is the set from St Katherine's in Chiselhampton. This delightful church, outstanding for the completeness and beauty of its Georgian furnishings and arrangement, was rebuilt by Charles Peers in 1762-63.

The Château de Chamerolles is a French Renaissance castle located in Chilleurs -aux-Bois , in the Loiret department in the Center Val de Loire region .

It has been classified as a historical monument since 1927 and registered since 1988 2 .

It is part of the castles of the Loire .

Geography

The castle is located along the road to Gallerand ( departmental road 109 linking the towns of Chilleurs-aux-Bois to Courcy-aux-Loges ), 2.5 km south-east of the town of Chilleurs-aux-Bois ( canton de Pithiviers ), about thirty kilometers northeast of Orléans .

The building is built on the Cours de l' Œuf , at an altitude of 120 m , in the natural region of the Orléans forest .

The GR32-655 East long-distance hiking trail runs along the castle grounds.

The town of Chilleurs-aux-Bois is served by line 20A of the Ulys coach network .

Access No. 7 of the A19 motorway is located 6 km north of the castle.

History

The castle was built around 1530 by Lancelot I du Lac, chamberlain of the King of France Louis XII then bailiff of Orléans under the reign of King François I , on the site of an old fortified house. It retained the traditional form of medieval fortresses but was designed as a residential castle.

In the 16th century , under Lancelot II ( grandson of Lancelot I ) who rallied to Protestantism in 1562 , Chamerolles distinguished itself by housing a Protestant temple in one of its rooms. The castle became a high place of the Protestant religion in the region. In 1672 , Chamerolles belonged to Jacques Saumery, brother-in-law of Jean-Baptiste Colbert , minister of King Louis XIV . He is governor of the royal castle of Chambord and of the county of Blois , marshal of the king's armies and grand master of the Waters and Forests of Île-de-France.

In the 18th century , in 1774 , the castle became the property of the Lamberts , then that of Gaston Jessé-Curély in 1924. Occupied, ransacked and stripped during the Second World War , it was put up for sale in 1970 . In 1976 , the City of Paris found itself in charge of Chamerolles. Abandoned, the castle fell into ruins.

After all these adventures, it is therefore a ruin in very poor condition that the general council of Loiret bought in 1987 . After five years of work, the castle and its gardens were opened to visitors in 1992 . Restoration 3 was carried out by the architect of historical monuments Jacques Moulin . Refurnished in order to restore the atmosphere at the time of its inhabitants, a museum of perfumes is installed in the south wing. The castle hosts a set of unique pieces and objects testifying to the history of perfume and hygiene over the centuries. The museography around the perfume was entrusted to Didier Moulin.

The plan is classic: the castle forms a quadrilateral with a large cylindrical tower at each corner. It has four levels and an imposing gatehouse on the east side, flanked by two turrets pierced with gunboats. The whole is surrounded by moats .

The construction is in Beauce limestone coated with lime (entrance gatehouse, south wing and exterior facade of the north wing, north-east and south-east towers) and brick (north-west and south-west towers, west wing, gallery of the south wing and interior façade of the north wing). The facades made of a mesh of red and black bricks are typical of the natural region of the Loire Valley .

The roofs are covered with slate.

The west wing housed the stately home during the Renaissance . The main courtyard is closed on three sides and there is a well with a very beautiful dome and a Renaissance gallery.

The elevation of the courtyard of the castle, dating from the 1530s, was taken up in the 17th and 18th centuries, without profoundly changing its character 3 .

The chapel has preserved original paintings. A restoration in 1991 revealed elements linked to the Protestant occupation, in the form of two texts painted on the wall, taking up the Credo and the Decalogue of the Geneva Bible of 1588 3 .

Next to the chateau, just behind the moat on the east side, are gardens created by Jacques Moulin, during the restoration of the chateau, in the style of French Renaissance gardens, at the end of the 16th century . A park crossed by a river is located on the south side.

The old hall of Bellegarde , dating from the 17th century , was dismantled, restored and then installed within the walls of the castle . It was inaugurated onSeptember 18 , 2009as part of the exhibition “At the origins of the Loiret, from prehistory to the A19

The châteaux of the Loire Valley (French: châteaux de la Loire) are part of the architectural heritage of the historic towns of Amboise, Angers, Blois, Chinon, Montsoreau, Orléans, Saumur, and Tours along the river Loire in France. They illustrate Renaissance ideals of design in France.

The châteaux of the Loire Valley number over three hundred, ranging from practical fortified castles from the 10th century to splendid residences built half a millennium later. When the French kings began constructing their huge châteaux in the Loire Valley, the nobility, drawn to the seat of power, followed suit, attracting the finest architects and landscape designers. The châteaux and their surrounding gardens are cultural monuments which embody the ideals of the Renaissance and Enlightenment. Many of the châteaux were built on hilltops, such as the Château d'Amboise, while the only one built in the riverbed is the Château de Montsoreau. Many had exquisite churches on the grounds or within the château.

History

With the Hundred Years' War concluded, Charles VII, Louis XI, and their successors preferred to spend the bulk of their time in the "garden of France" along the banks of the Loire. In the late 15th century Tours, then Blois, and later Amboise became the preferred locations of the French royal court. Many courtiers bought dilapidated castles built by the medieval Counts of Blois and of Anjou, and they had them reconstructed in the latest Italianate fashion. Leonardo da Vinci and other Italian artists arrived to design and beautify these residences.

In the 16th century, Francis I moved his main residence back to the Louvre, in Paris. With him went the great architects, but the Loire Valley continued to be the place where French royalty preferred to spend their time when not in the capital. Toward the end of the 17th century, Louis XIV made the Île-de-France the permanent locale for great royal residences when he built the Palace of Versailles. Nonetheless, those who gained the king's favour, as well as the wealthy bourgeoisie, continued to renovate existing châteaux or build lavish new ones in the Loire Valley as summer residences.

The French Revolution saw a number of the great châteaux destroyed and many ransacked, their treasures stolen. The overnight impoverishment of many French noble families, usually after one of their members lost his or her head to the guillotine, saw many châteaux demolished. During World War I and World War II, various chateaux were commandeered as military headquarters. Some of these continued to be so used after the end of World War II.

Today, the remaining privately owned châteaux serve as homes and some of them open their doors to tourists, while others operate as hotels or bed-and-breakfasts. Many others have been taken over by local governments, and the grandest, like those at Chambord, are owned and operated by the national government and are major tourist sites, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.

List of châteaux of the Loire

Though there may be no universally accepted definition for the designation, the main criterion is that the château must be situated close to the Loire or one of its tributaries (such as the Maine, Cher, Indre, Creuse or Loir). Châteaux further upstream than Gien are generally not included, with the possible exception of the Bastie d'Urfé for its historical significance.

Chilleurs-aux-Bois (French pronunciation: is a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France.

Historical population

YearPop.±% p.a.

19681,091—

19751,160+0.88%

19821,432+3.06%

19901,471+0.34%

19991,703+1.64%

20071,898+1.36%

20121,850−0.51%

20171,992+1.49%

The Château de Chamerolles is a French Renaissance castle located in Chilleurs -aux-Bois , in the Loiret department in the Center Val de Loire region .

It has been classified as a historical monument since 1927 and registered since 1988 2 .

It is part of the castles of the Loire .

Geography

The castle is located along the road to Gallerand ( departmental road 109 linking the towns of Chilleurs-aux-Bois to Courcy-aux-Loges ), 2.5 km south-east of the town of Chilleurs-aux-Bois ( canton de Pithiviers ), about thirty kilometers northeast of Orléans .

The building is built on the Cours de l' Œuf , at an altitude of 120 m , in the natural region of the Orléans forest .

The GR32-655 East long-distance hiking trail runs along the castle grounds.

The town of Chilleurs-aux-Bois is served by line 20A of the Ulys coach network .

Access No. 7 of the A19 motorway is located 6 km north of the castle.

History

The castle was built around 1530 by Lancelot I du Lac, chamberlain of the King of France Louis XII then bailiff of Orléans under the reign of King François I , on the site of an old fortified house. It retained the traditional form of medieval fortresses but was designed as a residential castle.

In the 16th century , under Lancelot II ( grandson of Lancelot I ) who rallied to Protestantism in 1562 , Chamerolles distinguished itself by housing a Protestant temple in one of its rooms. The castle became a high place of the Protestant religion in the region. In 1672 , Chamerolles belonged to Jacques Saumery, brother-in-law of Jean-Baptiste Colbert , minister of King Louis XIV . He is governor of the royal castle of Chambord and of the county of Blois , marshal of the king's armies and grand master of the Waters and Forests of Île-de-France.

In the 18th century , in 1774 , the castle became the property of the Lamberts , then that of Gaston Jessé-Curély in 1924. Occupied, ransacked and stripped during the Second World War , it was put up for sale in 1970 . In 1976 , the City of Paris found itself in charge of Chamerolles. Abandoned, the castle fell into ruins.

After all these adventures, it is therefore a ruin in very poor condition that the general council of Loiret bought in 1987 . After five years of work, the castle and its gardens were opened to visitors in 1992 . Restoration 3 was carried out by the architect of historical monuments Jacques Moulin . Refurnished in order to restore the atmosphere at the time of its inhabitants, a museum of perfumes is installed in the south wing. The castle hosts a set of unique pieces and objects testifying to the history of perfume and hygiene over the centuries. The museography around the perfume was entrusted to Didier Moulin.

The plan is classic: the castle forms a quadrilateral with a large cylindrical tower at each corner. It has four levels and an imposing gatehouse on the east side, flanked by two turrets pierced with gunboats. The whole is surrounded by moats .

The construction is in Beauce limestone coated with lime (entrance gatehouse, south wing and exterior facade of the north wing, north-east and south-east towers) and brick (north-west and south-west towers, west wing, gallery of the south wing and interior façade of the north wing). The facades made of a mesh of red and black bricks are typical of the natural region of the Loire Valley .

The roofs are covered with slate.

The west wing housed the stately home during the Renaissance . The main courtyard is closed on three sides and there is a well with a very beautiful dome and a Renaissance gallery.

The elevation of the courtyard of the castle, dating from the 1530s, was taken up in the 17th and 18th centuries, without profoundly changing its character 3 .

The chapel has preserved original paintings. A restoration in 1991 revealed elements linked to the Protestant occupation, in the form of two texts painted on the wall, taking up the Credo and the Decalogue of the Geneva Bible of 1588 3 .

Next to the chateau, just behind the moat on the east side, are gardens created by Jacques Moulin, during the restoration of the chateau, in the style of French Renaissance gardens, at the end of the 16th century . A park crossed by a river is located on the south side.

The old hall of Bellegarde , dating from the 17th century , was dismantled, restored and then installed within the walls of the castle . It was inaugurated onSeptember 18 , 2009as part of the exhibition “At the origins of the Loiret, from prehistory to the A19

The châteaux of the Loire Valley (French: châteaux de la Loire) are part of the architectural heritage of the historic towns of Amboise, Angers, Blois, Chinon, Montsoreau, Orléans, Saumur, and Tours along the river Loire in France. They illustrate Renaissance ideals of design in France.

The châteaux of the Loire Valley number over three hundred, ranging from practical fortified castles from the 10th century to splendid residences built half a millennium later. When the French kings began constructing their huge châteaux in the Loire Valley, the nobility, drawn to the seat of power, followed suit, attracting the finest architects and landscape designers. The châteaux and their surrounding gardens are cultural monuments which embody the ideals of the Renaissance and Enlightenment. Many of the châteaux were built on hilltops, such as the Château d'Amboise, while the only one built in the riverbed is the Château de Montsoreau. Many had exquisite churches on the grounds or within the château.

History

With the Hundred Years' War concluded, Charles VII, Louis XI, and their successors preferred to spend the bulk of their time in the "garden of France" along the banks of the Loire. In the late 15th century Tours, then Blois, and later Amboise became the preferred locations of the French royal court. Many courtiers bought dilapidated castles built by the medieval Counts of Blois and of Anjou, and they had them reconstructed in the latest Italianate fashion. Leonardo da Vinci and other Italian artists arrived to design and beautify these residences.

In the 16th century, Francis I moved his main residence back to the Louvre, in Paris. With him went the great architects, but the Loire Valley continued to be the place where French royalty preferred to spend their time when not in the capital. Toward the end of the 17th century, Louis XIV made the Île-de-France the permanent locale for great royal residences when he built the Palace of Versailles. Nonetheless, those who gained the king's favour, as well as the wealthy bourgeoisie, continued to renovate existing châteaux or build lavish new ones in the Loire Valley as summer residences.

The French Revolution saw a number of the great châteaux destroyed and many ransacked, their treasures stolen. The overnight impoverishment of many French noble families, usually after one of their members lost his or her head to the guillotine, saw many châteaux demolished. During World War I and World War II, various chateaux were commandeered as military headquarters. Some of these continued to be so used after the end of World War II.

Today, the remaining privately owned châteaux serve as homes and some of them open their doors to tourists, while others operate as hotels or bed-and-breakfasts. Many others have been taken over by local governments, and the grandest, like those at Chambord, are owned and operated by the national government and are major tourist sites, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.

List of châteaux of the Loire

Though there may be no universally accepted definition for the designation, the main criterion is that the château must be situated close to the Loire or one of its tributaries (such as the Maine, Cher, Indre, Creuse or Loir). Châteaux further upstream than Gien are generally not included, with the possible exception of the Bastie d'Urfé for its historical significance.

Chilleurs-aux-Bois (French pronunciation: is a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France.

Historical population

YearPop.±% p.a.

19681,091—

19751,160+0.88%

19821,432+3.06%

19901,471+0.34%

19991,703+1.64%

20071,898+1.36%

20121,850−0.51%

20171,992+1.49%

St Mary, Bridgham, Norfolk

I revisited Bridgham with John Vigar in the summer of 2016. Bridgham is one of those sprawling Norfolk villages a little off the beaten track which are always a pleasure to visit. And St Mary too, is a delight, and rather different to most other medieval churches in appearance. Its pleasing and curious shape is a result of the buffeting of the centuries.

The tower has gone, and the west end now sports a high dutch-style gable with a bell turret. There is an imposing red-brick and flushwork porch in what can only be described as a Suffolk style, and the chancel has been rebuilt higher than the nave. Its red tiles contrast with the slates of the nave to create an overall effect which I liked very much. As I say, it is quite unusual.

The narrow upright lines that survive on the west wall suggest that this was a round tower, and the filled-in tower arch shows that it was probably of the 13th century. Altogether, this is a quirky, homely exterior, and that porch is really quite something.

It had been ten years since my previous visit, but I still remembered what a friendly lot they had been here. I'd come on a Historic Churches Bike Ride day, so it was a little disappointing to turn up now and find the church locked, though there was a keyholder notice with three keyholders on it. The nearest was down a long, long shingle drive, crunch, crunch, crunch. I eventually got to the back door, which had a bell. Riiiiiiiiing. I waited. No one came. I waited some more. Still no one came. So back up the drive, crunch, crunch, crunch. I'd gone about fifty yards before I heard a loud shout behind me - 'Oi!'. So I turned back. 'I thought I heard flat feet!' said a tall gentleman in his seventies I suppose, dressed for gardening. I explained my mission. 'The missus isn't in', he said, 'but I can go and have a rummage. I shall have to come with you!'. He went off into the house to have a rummage, shutting the door behind him.

As he did so, a car pulled up the shingle drive, parked, and a lady got out. I explained my mission again. 'Oh dear!' she said, ' I'm terribly sorry, but I've been away and I lent the key to someone and they haven't given it back!'. She explained where I could find the lady she had lent the key to. 'it's about a hundred yards up the road, it's the only bungalow!'. I explained that her husband was currently 'rummaging' for the key. She thought for a moment. 'He's not my husband, he's my gardener.'

Apologising profusely and stifling my embarrassment, I set off a hundred yards down the road into what turned out to be a sea of bungalows. After about four hundred yards I reach the one I was looking for. Riiiiing. The door was answered by a very jolly lady. 'The lady in the Old Rectory tells me that if I call here you'll give me the church key,' I said. 'Does she now!' replied the jolly lady. And she gave me the key quite happily, even though she didn't know me from Adam and she wasn't one of the people on the keyholder notice.

Bridgham has one of the most interesting fonts in Norfolk. It is made of a white, chalky stone, and has traces of its original colour. It appears eroded as much as defaced, and is remarkable for two of its panels. That to the west shows the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin. This is very rare, and only occurs twice elsewhere on a font in East Anglia, at Great Witchingham church in Norfolk and at St Matthew's church in Ipswich in Suffolk. The Assumption was the great late summer feast of the late medieval Catholic Church in England; its celebration on August 15th coincided with the height of the harvest. Perhaps two hundred churches in East Anglia were dedicated to the Assumption. However, it was heavily frowned upon by the protestant reformers, and the Assumption does not appear in Anglican doctrine. The image of the Assumption is consequently one of the most haunting survivals. It rarely survived at all in glass, but can be found in stone bosses in Several Norfolk churches, including Wymondham Abbey.

The eastern panel has another rare image, that of the Holy Trinity. This is the traditional medieval composition of an old man as God the Father, holding the crucified Christ as the Son, with a dove descending to represent the Holy Spirit. This is found on a couple of other East Anglian fonts, most famously at Acle, and also occasionally in stained glass. Other panels feature angels holding shields.

The double piscina and sedilia are rather good, too. The other medieval survival of significance here is the dado of the rood screen, painted in red, green and gold with simple patterns. It must have been a very sturdy example when it was complete. Tucked behind it, a 15th Century bench end has been reused for a chair built into the back of it. It is inscribed to Thomas Watson and Alys his wyf. A bequest from Thomas and Alice Watson left the money for the rood screen in 1475.

Somewhat more dramatic at the west end of the church are the two surviving figures from the old decalogue boards. Aaron and Moses look very grand and austere, and almost Spanish in style. It is rare to see them so close up, a rather awe-inspiring sight.

St Mary, Shotley, Suffolk

The Shotley Peninsula runs like a flame, or a tongue, between the Rivers Stour and Orwell as they sprawl lazily towards the sea. At Shotley Point, the two rivers meet before emptying into the grey North Sea, the great industrial expanse of Felixstowe Docks on the north bank dominating the scene, while prettier Harwich to the south busies itself looking purposeful. In summer, you can stand all day at Shotley Point watching. There is always something to see: the vast container ships bringing Chinese televisions and Vietnamese shoes, the ferries with their cargoes of sleepy Dutch and German motorists, small Arthur Ransomesque yachts speeding out of the Orwell with its marinas, a wherry of London bankers sipping Pimms in the sunshine, wondering where their next bonus is coming from...

In winter this is a wild place, the gales from the great German Ocean flattening the hedgerows, the windows of the Bristol Arms rattling in the gusts along the empty streets, the ghosts of HMS Ganges, the Royal Navy Training College, silent now above the mudflats when the tide is out. But this was once a busy place, full of the chatter of young sailors, and during the First World War it was a famous place. Today it has lost its way: it is still one of Suffolk's biggest villages, but its remoteness ill-serves the housing estates which sprawl back towards Erwarton and Chelmondiston. Shotley is a strange place.

The setting of this church is also most curious. It is further from the village it serves than any other Suffolk church. Erwarton parish church is closer to Shotley village than Shotley church is. St Mary stands in a tiny, tightly-packed hamlet in the low hills towards Chelmondiston. In fact, this was the original village. The place we now call Shotley was once an outlying fishing hamlet, Shotley Gate. You reach St Mary along one of two narrow lanes.

The stubby tower of the church hugs a later raised clerestory, quite out of keeping with each other. If I come here on a hot Summer's day, and climb the steep hill leading up to it, I am always reminded more of the Dordogne than of East Anglia. The graveyard is set on a steep hillside, the huge cranes of Trimley Dock towering precipitously beyond the river below. This graveyard is one of the most haunting in East Anglia, filled with the graves of mostly teenage lads sent out by HMS Ganges to die in accidents and wars. Some of their bodies were brought back for burial, but most often these are mere memorials to young boys lost deep beneath fathoms of filthy, icy water. You think of their happy laughter: climbing onto the bus to go to the pictures in Ipswich, or courting a local girl along one of the narrow, poppy-lined lanes. It is heartbreaking, particularly if you are a parent.

Unusually for Suffolk, the south door opens almost onto the street. You step into the light of a wide-aisled nave. The pleasantly cool whitewashed interior seems much larger than is possible from the outside. But the eye is irresistably drawn to one of the most extraordinary chancel arches in Suffolk, a great dark wood casement surmounted by a set of arms, offset slightly in the east wall. Beyond, the effect is startling, and rather wonderful. In 1745, the year of the Jacobite Rising, the chancel here was rebuilt in the style of a Classical City of London church, a striking counterpoint to the ancient Gothic space to the west. The black and white marbled floor leads to curved, three-sided rails surrounding a sweet little holy table, the decalogue boards flanked by Moses and Aaron behind. White light pours through high windows. Such rational elegance! There could be no greater statement of the power of Protestant triumphalism at that troubled time.

Stepping back westwards, the nave suddenly lifts high above the space you have just left, and is crowned above the clerestories by a gorgeous late 15th Century hammerbeam roof. The arcades stride away westwards, a simple classical casement in the tower arch reflecting back the mood of the chancel. High above are the arms of George II, contemporary with the rebuilding, and so they probably once hung above the chancel arch. And what a statement they would have made. Charles Stuart's attempted coup d'état of 1745 was a romantic fancy, and had no real chance of succeeding, any more than his grandfather James II was ever likely to have held onto his throne more than half a century earlier.

And perhaps things would not have turned out well if it had succeeded. The power of the protestant London merchant classes, which had formerly backed Cromwell, had also guaranteed the success of the Dutch William of Orange's takeover of the English throne in 1688. That power was now deeply invested in the Hanovers. The Church of England, the regular Army and the Royal Navy, those three constant and essential arms of government, reacted to the uprising by forging a consensus which would be the key to the imagination of the people, a notion of identity which would at last reinvent and create the British as a Nation. Nothing would bend it from its path now, and it would reach its apotheosis on the fields of Flanders and the Somme. But that was all in the future.

Meanwhile, in the rural backwaters, the Catholic aristocracy was little shaken by the events of '45. Perhaps they stirred, and perhaps they read their newspapers with a frisson. But after all, they were only just awakening from the long years of penal silence. Although the Old Religion was still technically outlawed, they were no longer persecuted, and many had begun to retake their place in the national hierarchy. It was a compromise, but an ordered and easy one.

But what of ordinary Catholics in England, Scotland and, most of all, Ireland? What of their hopes? They had been dashed along with the throne of James II at the Battle of the Boyne, and were now trampled with the troops of Charles Stuart into the blood-soaked fields of Culloden. No one had expected the Jacobites to succeed, but the fury with which the rebellion was put down had been startling. Those hopes would turn to a hurt, and it would echo uncomfortably for the emerging British State down the next two and a half centuries.

The Château de Chamerolles is a French Renaissance castle located in Chilleurs -aux-Bois , in the Loiret department in the Center Val de Loire region .

It has been classified as a historical monument since 1927 and registered since 1988 2 .

It is part of the castles of the Loire .

Geography

The castle is located along the road to Gallerand ( departmental road 109 linking the towns of Chilleurs-aux-Bois to Courcy-aux-Loges ), 2.5 km south-east of the town of Chilleurs-aux-Bois ( canton de Pithiviers ), about thirty kilometers northeast of Orléans .

The building is built on the Cours de l' Œuf , at an altitude of 120 m , in the natural region of the Orléans forest .

The GR32-655 East long-distance hiking trail runs along the castle grounds.

The town of Chilleurs-aux-Bois is served by line 20A of the Ulys coach network .

Access No. 7 of the A19 motorway is located 6 km north of the castle.

History

The castle was built around 1530 by Lancelot I du Lac, chamberlain of the King of France Louis XII then bailiff of Orléans under the reign of King François I , on the site of an old fortified house. It retained the traditional form of medieval fortresses but was designed as a residential castle.

In the 16th century , under Lancelot II ( grandson of Lancelot I ) who rallied to Protestantism in 1562 , Chamerolles distinguished itself by housing a Protestant temple in one of its rooms. The castle became a high place of the Protestant religion in the region. In 1672 , Chamerolles belonged to Jacques Saumery, brother-in-law of Jean-Baptiste Colbert , minister of King Louis XIV . He is governor of the royal castle of Chambord and of the county of Blois , marshal of the king's armies and grand master of the Waters and Forests of Île-de-France.

In the 18th century , in 1774 , the castle became the property of the Lamberts , then that of Gaston Jessé-Curély in 1924. Occupied, ransacked and stripped during the Second World War , it was put up for sale in 1970 . In 1976 , the City of Paris found itself in charge of Chamerolles. Abandoned, the castle fell into ruins.

After all these adventures, it is therefore a ruin in very poor condition that the general council of Loiret bought in 1987 . After five years of work, the castle and its gardens were opened to visitors in 1992 . Restoration 3 was carried out by the architect of historical monuments Jacques Moulin . Refurnished in order to restore the atmosphere at the time of its inhabitants, a museum of perfumes is installed in the south wing. The castle hosts a set of unique pieces and objects testifying to the history of perfume and hygiene over the centuries. The museography around the perfume was entrusted to Didier Moulin.

The plan is classic: the castle forms a quadrilateral with a large cylindrical tower at each corner. It has four levels and an imposing gatehouse on the east side, flanked by two turrets pierced with gunboats. The whole is surrounded by moats .

The construction is in Beauce limestone coated with lime (entrance gatehouse, south wing and exterior facade of the north wing, north-east and south-east towers) and brick (north-west and south-west towers, west wing, gallery of the south wing and interior façade of the north wing). The facades made of a mesh of red and black bricks are typical of the natural region of the Loire Valley .

The roofs are covered with slate.

The west wing housed the stately home during the Renaissance . The main courtyard is closed on three sides and there is a well with a very beautiful dome and a Renaissance gallery.

The elevation of the courtyard of the castle, dating from the 1530s, was taken up in the 17th and 18th centuries, without profoundly changing its character 3 .

The chapel has preserved original paintings. A restoration in 1991 revealed elements linked to the Protestant occupation, in the form of two texts painted on the wall, taking up the Credo and the Decalogue of the Geneva Bible of 1588 3 .

Next to the chateau, just behind the moat on the east side, are gardens created by Jacques Moulin, during the restoration of the chateau, in the style of French Renaissance gardens, at the end of the 16th century . A park crossed by a river is located on the south side.

The old hall of Bellegarde , dating from the 17th century , was dismantled, restored and then installed within the walls of the castle . It was inaugurated onSeptember 18 , 2009as part of the exhibition “At the origins of the Loiret, from prehistory to the A19

The châteaux of the Loire Valley (French: châteaux de la Loire) are part of the architectural heritage of the historic towns of Amboise, Angers, Blois, Chinon, Montsoreau, Orléans, Saumur, and Tours along the river Loire in France. They illustrate Renaissance ideals of design in France.

The châteaux of the Loire Valley number over three hundred, ranging from practical fortified castles from the 10th century to splendid residences built half a millennium later. When the French kings began constructing their huge châteaux in the Loire Valley, the nobility, drawn to the seat of power, followed suit, attracting the finest architects and landscape designers. The châteaux and their surrounding gardens are cultural monuments which embody the ideals of the Renaissance and Enlightenment. Many of the châteaux were built on hilltops, such as the Château d'Amboise, while the only one built in the riverbed is the Château de Montsoreau. Many had exquisite churches on the grounds or within the château.

History

With the Hundred Years' War concluded, Charles VII, Louis XI, and their successors preferred to spend the bulk of their time in the "garden of France" along the banks of the Loire. In the late 15th century Tours, then Blois, and later Amboise became the preferred locations of the French royal court. Many courtiers bought dilapidated castles built by the medieval Counts of Blois and of Anjou, and they had them reconstructed in the latest Italianate fashion. Leonardo da Vinci and other Italian artists arrived to design and beautify these residences.

In the 16th century, Francis I moved his main residence back to the Louvre, in Paris. With him went the great architects, but the Loire Valley continued to be the place where French royalty preferred to spend their time when not in the capital. Toward the end of the 17th century, Louis XIV made the Île-de-France the permanent locale for great royal residences when he built the Palace of Versailles. Nonetheless, those who gained the king's favour, as well as the wealthy bourgeoisie, continued to renovate existing châteaux or build lavish new ones in the Loire Valley as summer residences.

The French Revolution saw a number of the great châteaux destroyed and many ransacked, their treasures stolen. The overnight impoverishment of many French noble families, usually after one of their members lost his or her head to the guillotine, saw many châteaux demolished. During World War I and World War II, various chateaux were commandeered as military headquarters. Some of these continued to be so used after the end of World War II.

Today, the remaining privately owned châteaux serve as homes and some of them open their doors to tourists, while others operate as hotels or bed-and-breakfasts. Many others have been taken over by local governments, and the grandest, like those at Chambord, are owned and operated by the national government and are major tourist sites, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.

List of châteaux of the Loire

Though there may be no universally accepted definition for the designation, the main criterion is that the château must be situated close to the Loire or one of its tributaries (such as the Maine, Cher, Indre, Creuse or Loir). Châteaux further upstream than Gien are generally not included, with the possible exception of the Bastie d'Urfé for its historical significance.

Chilleurs-aux-Bois (French pronunciation: is a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France.

Historical population

YearPop.±% p.a.

19681,091—

19751,160+0.88%

19821,432+3.06%

19901,471+0.34%

19991,703+1.64%

20071,898+1.36%

20121,850−0.51%

20171,992+1.49%

The Château de Chamerolles is a French Renaissance castle located in Chilleurs -aux-Bois , in the Loiret department in the Center Val de Loire region .

It has been classified as a historical monument since 1927 and registered since 1988 2 .

It is part of the castles of the Loire .

Geography

The castle is located along the road to Gallerand ( departmental road 109 linking the towns of Chilleurs-aux-Bois to Courcy-aux-Loges ), 2.5 km south-east of the town of Chilleurs-aux-Bois ( canton de Pithiviers ), about thirty kilometers northeast of Orléans .

The building is built on the Cours de l' Œuf , at an altitude of 120 m , in the natural region of the Orléans forest .

The GR32-655 East long-distance hiking trail runs along the castle grounds.

The town of Chilleurs-aux-Bois is served by line 20A of the Ulys coach network .

Access No. 7 of the A19 motorway is located 6 km north of the castle.

History

The castle was built around 1530 by Lancelot I du Lac, chamberlain of the King of France Louis XII then bailiff of Orléans under the reign of King François I , on the site of an old fortified house. It retained the traditional form of medieval fortresses but was designed as a residential castle.

In the 16th century , under Lancelot II ( grandson of Lancelot I ) who rallied to Protestantism in 1562 , Chamerolles distinguished itself by housing a Protestant temple in one of its rooms. The castle became a high place of the Protestant religion in the region. In 1672 , Chamerolles belonged to Jacques Saumery, brother-in-law of Jean-Baptiste Colbert , minister of King Louis XIV . He is governor of the royal castle of Chambord and of the county of Blois , marshal of the king's armies and grand master of the Waters and Forests of Île-de-France.

In the 18th century , in 1774 , the castle became the property of the Lamberts , then that of Gaston Jessé-Curély in 1924. Occupied, ransacked and stripped during the Second World War , it was put up for sale in 1970 . In 1976 , the City of Paris found itself in charge of Chamerolles. Abandoned, the castle fell into ruins.

After all these adventures, it is therefore a ruin in very poor condition that the general council of Loiret bought in 1987 . After five years of work, the castle and its gardens were opened to visitors in 1992 . Restoration 3 was carried out by the architect of historical monuments Jacques Moulin . Refurnished in order to restore the atmosphere at the time of its inhabitants, a museum of perfumes is installed in the south wing. The castle hosts a set of unique pieces and objects testifying to the history of perfume and hygiene over the centuries. The museography around the perfume was entrusted to Didier Moulin.

The plan is classic: the castle forms a quadrilateral with a large cylindrical tower at each corner. It has four levels and an imposing gatehouse on the east side, flanked by two turrets pierced with gunboats. The whole is surrounded by moats .

The construction is in Beauce limestone coated with lime (entrance gatehouse, south wing and exterior facade of the north wing, north-east and south-east towers) and brick (north-west and south-west towers, west wing, gallery of the south wing and interior façade of the north wing). The facades made of a mesh of red and black bricks are typical of the natural region of the Loire Valley .

The roofs are covered with slate.

The west wing housed the stately home during the Renaissance . The main courtyard is closed on three sides and there is a well with a very beautiful dome and a Renaissance gallery.

The elevation of the courtyard of the castle, dating from the 1530s, was taken up in the 17th and 18th centuries, without profoundly changing its character 3 .

The chapel has preserved original paintings. A restoration in 1991 revealed elements linked to the Protestant occupation, in the form of two texts painted on the wall, taking up the Credo and the Decalogue of the Geneva Bible of 1588 3 .

Next to the chateau, just behind the moat on the east side, are gardens created by Jacques Moulin, during the restoration of the chateau, in the style of French Renaissance gardens, at the end of the 16th century . A park crossed by a river is located on the south side.

The old hall of Bellegarde , dating from the 17th century , was dismantled, restored and then installed within the walls of the castle . It was inaugurated onSeptember 18 , 2009as part of the exhibition “At the origins of the Loiret, from prehistory to the A19

The châteaux of the Loire Valley (French: châteaux de la Loire) are part of the architectural heritage of the historic towns of Amboise, Angers, Blois, Chinon, Montsoreau, Orléans, Saumur, and Tours along the river Loire in France. They illustrate Renaissance ideals of design in France.

The châteaux of the Loire Valley number over three hundred, ranging from practical fortified castles from the 10th century to splendid residences built half a millennium later. When the French kings began constructing their huge châteaux in the Loire Valley, the nobility, drawn to the seat of power, followed suit, attracting the finest architects and landscape designers. The châteaux and their surrounding gardens are cultural monuments which embody the ideals of the Renaissance and Enlightenment. Many of the châteaux were built on hilltops, such as the Château d'Amboise, while the only one built in the riverbed is the Château de Montsoreau. Many had exquisite churches on the grounds or within the château.

History

With the Hundred Years' War concluded, Charles VII, Louis XI, and their successors preferred to spend the bulk of their time in the "garden of France" along the banks of the Loire. In the late 15th century Tours, then Blois, and later Amboise became the preferred locations of the French royal court. Many courtiers bought dilapidated castles built by the medieval Counts of Blois and of Anjou, and they had them reconstructed in the latest Italianate fashion. Leonardo da Vinci and other Italian artists arrived to design and beautify these residences.

In the 16th century, Francis I moved his main residence back to the Louvre, in Paris. With him went the great architects, but the Loire Valley continued to be the place where French royalty preferred to spend their time when not in the capital. Toward the end of the 17th century, Louis XIV made the Île-de-France the permanent locale for great royal residences when he built the Palace of Versailles. Nonetheless, those who gained the king's favour, as well as the wealthy bourgeoisie, continued to renovate existing châteaux or build lavish new ones in the Loire Valley as summer residences.

The French Revolution saw a number of the great châteaux destroyed and many ransacked, their treasures stolen. The overnight impoverishment of many French noble families, usually after one of their members lost his or her head to the guillotine, saw many châteaux demolished. During World War I and World War II, various chateaux were commandeered as military headquarters. Some of these continued to be so used after the end of World War II.

Today, the remaining privately owned châteaux serve as homes and some of them open their doors to tourists, while others operate as hotels or bed-and-breakfasts. Many others have been taken over by local governments, and the grandest, like those at Chambord, are owned and operated by the national government and are major tourist sites, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.

List of châteaux of the Loire

Though there may be no universally accepted definition for the designation, the main criterion is that the château must be situated close to the Loire or one of its tributaries (such as the Maine, Cher, Indre, Creuse or Loir). Châteaux further upstream than Gien are generally not included, with the possible exception of the Bastie d'Urfé for its historical significance.

Chilleurs-aux-Bois (French pronunciation: is a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France.

Historical population

YearPop.±% p.a.

19681,091—

19751,160+0.88%

19821,432+3.06%

19901,471+0.34%

19991,703+1.64%

20071,898+1.36%

20121,850−0.51%

20171,992+1.49%

St Mary, Shotley, Suffolk

The First World War sailors' graveyard, mostly memorial markers to teenage boys lost at sea, overlooks the confluence of the Orwell and Stour rivers.

Lady, whose shrine stands on the promontory,

Pray for all those who are in ships, those

Whose business has to do with fish, and

Those concerned with every lawful traffic

And those who conduct them.

Repeat a prayer also on behalf of

Women who have seen their sons or husbands

Setting forth, and not returning:

Figlia del tuo figlio,

Queen of Heaven.

Also pray for those who were in ships, and

Ended their voyage on the sand, in the sea's lips

Or in the dark throat which will not reject them

Or wherever cannot reach them the sound of the sea bell's

Perpetual angelus.

T. S. Eliot, from The Dry Salvages, 1941

The Shotley Peninsula runs like a flame, or a tongue, between the Rivers Stour and Orwell as they sprawl lazily towards the sea. At Shotley Point, the two rivers meet before emptying into the grey North Sea, the great industrial expanse of Felixstowe Docks on the north bank dominating the scene, while prettier Harwich to the south busies itself looking purposeful. You can stand all day at Shotley Point watching. There is always something to see: the vast container ships bringing Chinese televisions and Vietnamese shoes, the ferries with their cargoes of sleepy Dutch and German motorists, small Arthur Ransomesque yachts speeding out of the Orwell with its marinas, a wherry of London bankers sipping Pimms in the sunshine, wondering where their next bonus is coming from...

In winter this is a wild place, the gales from the great German Ocean flattening the hedgerows, the windows of the Bristol Arms rattling in the gusts along the empty streets, the ghosts of HMS Ganges, the Royal Navy Training College, silent now above the mudflats when the tide is out. But this was once a busy place, full of the chatter of young sailors, and during the First World War it was a famous place. Today it has lost its way: it is still one of Suffolk's biggest villages, but its remoteness ill-serves the housing estates which sprawl back towards Erwarton and Chelmondiston. Shotley is a strange place.

The setting of this church is also most curious. It is further from the village it serves than any other Suffolk church. Erwarton parish church is closer to Shotley village than Shotley church is. St Mary stands in a tiny, tightly-packed hamlet in the low hills towards Chelmondiston. In fact, this was the original village. The place we now call Shotley was once an outlying fishing hamlet, Shotley Gate. You reach St Mary along one of two narrow lanes.

The stubby tower of the church hugs a later raised clerestory, quite out of keeping with each other. If I come here on a hot Summer's day, and climb the steep hill leading up to it, I am always reminded more of the Dordogne than of East Anglia. The graveyard is set on a steep hillside, the huge cranes of Trimley Dock towering precipitously beyond the river below. This graveyard is one of the most haunting in East Anglia, filled with the graves of mostly teenage lads sent out by HMS Ganges to die in accidents and wars. Some of their bodies were brought back for burial, but most often these are mere memorials to young boys lost deep beneath fathoms of filthy, icy water. You think of their happy laughter: climbing onto the bus to go to the pictures in Ipswich, or courting a local girl along one of the narrow, poppy-lined lanes. It is heartbreaking, particularly if you are a parent.

Unusually for Suffolk, the south door opens almost onto the street. You step into the light of a wide-aisled nave. The pleasantly cool whitewashed interior seems much larger than is possible from the outside. But the eye is irresistably drawn to one of the most extraordinary chancel arches in Suffolk, a great dark wood casement surmounted by a set of arms, offset slightly in the east wall. Beyond, the effect is startling, and rather wonderful. In 1745, the year of the Jacobite Rising, the chancel here was rebuilt in the style of a Classical City of London church, a striking counterpoint to the ancient Gothic space to the west. The black and white marbled floor leads to curved, three-sided rails surrounding a sweet little holy table, the decalogue boards flanked by Moses and Aaron behind. White light pours through high windows. Such rational elegance! There could be no greater statement of the power of Protestant triumphalism at that troubled time.

Stepping back westwards, the nave suddenly lifts high above the space you have just left, and is crowned above the clerestories by a gorgeous late 15th Century hammerbeam roof. The arcades stride away westwards, a simple classical casement in the tower arch reflecting back the mood of the chancel. High above are the arms of George II, contemporary with the rebuilding, and so they probably once hung above the chancel arch. And what a statement they would have made. Charles Stuart's attempted coup d'état of 1745 was a romantic fancy, and had no real chance of succeeding, any more than his grandfather James II was ever likely to have held onto his throne more than half a century earlier.

And perhaps things would not have turned out well if it had succeeded. The power of the protestant London merchant classes, which had formerly backed Cromwell, had also guaranteed the success of the Dutch William of Orange's takeover of the English throne in 1688. That power was now deeply invested in the Hanovers. The Church of England, the regular Army and the Royal Navy, those three constant and essential arms of government, reacted to the uprising by forging a consensus which would be the key to the imagination of the people, a notion of identity which would at last reinvent and create the British as a Nation. Nothing would bend it from its path now, and it would reach its apotheosis on the fields of Flanders and the Somme. But that was all in the future.

Meanwhile, in the rural backwaters, the Catholic aristocracy was little shaken by the events of '45. Perhaps they stirred, and perhaps they read their newspapers with a frisson. But after all, they were only just awakening from the long years of penal silence. Although the Old Religion was still technically outlawed, they were no longer persecuted, and many had begun to retake their place in the national hierarchy. It was a compromise, but an ordered and easy one.

But what of ordinary Catholics in England, Scotland and, most of all, Ireland? What of their hopes? They had been dashed along with the throne of James II at the Battle of the Boyne, and were now trampled with the troops of Charles Stuart into the blood-soaked fields of Culloden. No one had expected the Jacobites to succeed, but the fury with which the rebellion was put down had been startling. Those hopes would turn to a hurt, and it would echo uncomfortably for the emerging British State down the next two and a half centuries.